Cannabis Use Among Cancer Survivors Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019-2021

JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2023 Apr 20:pkad031. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkad031. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We estimated the prevalence of past 30-day cannabis use (CU), evaluated reasons for use, and identified individual-level factors associated with CU among cancer survivors before (2019) and during (2020 and 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancer survivors, 18+ years, were identified from the 2019 (n = 8,185), 2020 (n = 11,084) and 2021 (n = 12,248) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Prevalence of past 30-day CU among survivors held steady through the pandemic (8.7%, 7.4%, and 8.4% in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively). Of those who used cannabis, 48.7% used it for medical reasons in 2019; 54.5% in 2020; and 43.5% in 2021. Survivors were more likely to report past 30-day CU if they were younger, male, current or former tobacco smokers, binge alcohol consumers; and if they experienced poor mental health in the past 30-days. Our study identified subpopulations of cancer survivors that need to be targeted for evidence-informed discussions about CU.

PMID:37079754 | DOI:10.1093/jncics/pkad031