Quebec: Cannabis use on the rise, except among young people

More and more Quebecers are smoking tobacco. pot. This is the result of the local government's annual survey of 14,000 people, conducted between February and June 2021. 20 % of the province's residents say they have used cannabis in the last twelve months. This is more than in 2019 (18 %) and 2018 (14 %), the year of the Canada-wide legalization of cannabis.

However, not all of Quebec society has become stone. The increase in consumption concerns « all age groups from 25 upwards».», notes the report. Before that age, consumption stagnates or declines. «Among 18-24 year-olds, no statistically significant variation in proportion since 2018. On the other hand, among young people aged 15 to 17, there has been a decreaseproportion, which rose from 22 % in 2018 to 19 % in 2021″, specify statisticians.

And that's good news, since cannabis is a very popular harmful to developing brains, for people under the age of 25.

Regular users are also slightly more numerous. The proportion of people who have smoked cannabis in the last three months rises from 11 % in 2018, to 13 % in 2019, reaching 15 % in 2021.

However, the authors of the report make an important nuance: « Consumption was mein an exceptional pandemic context. As this consumption may have been unusual, it's proving difficult to draw conclusions solely on the basis of results of this edition.»

Only 11 % of black market purchases

The survey also sheds light on consumption patterns. First lesson: the black market has (virtually) disappeared. « The majority (70 %) of Quebecers who consumed cannabis in the 12 months preceding the survey. are supplied by SQDC».», state-owned stores with a monopoly on the sale of cannabis. 

Only « 11 % purchased cannabis from from an illegal supplierl », noted the Quebec survey. This is quite a feat, considering that Canada has a long time to get rid of black market. He represented 51 % of purchases in 2018, and 35 % in 2020.

SQDC's comeback can be explained by a greater number of stores opening: 13 in 2019, 41 in 2020, then 66 in 2020. What's more, the state-owned chains sell a wider range of products. Visit edibles, long shunned, are now now on display.

That said, the joint is still the star product, with 85 % of people using it. use cannabis by smoking it. However, this number is declining. Other methods, less harmful to health, are being developed. «The proportions of consumers saying they ingest it in a food product, a beverage or in the form of a pill or oral drops, or still vaping or spray it, have increased since 2018″, stresses the report.