Are COVID-19 health-related and socioeconomic stressors associated with increases in cannabis use in individuals who use cannabis for recreational purposes?

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures implemented to mitigate transmission may increase stress, which, in turn, can be associated with changes in cannabis use. This study examined the associations between health-related and socioeconomic stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and reported increases in cannabis use. Indirect effects of health-related and socioeconomic stressors on increased cannabis use through cannabis coping motives were also tested. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data, based on responses from a convenience sample of 755 Israeli adults who reported frequent consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes, was analyzed using structural equation models. Results: About 35% of the respondents reported that they agreed to a large/very large extent that their cannabis use had increased since the COVID-19 pandemic had started. Both health and socioeconomic stressors were related to increased cannabis use during the pandemic, and coping motives mediated this relationship. The direct and indirect associations of socioeconomic stressors and increased cannabis use were stronger than the associations of health-related stressors. Conclusions: Cannabis consumption may serve as a means of coping with health and socioeconomic COVID-19 stressors. Particular attention should be placed on socioeconomic stressors as these may be particularly important in understanding coping related cannabis use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

• Cannabis use
• COVID-19
• coping motives
• mediation
• stressors

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Ethics in Research Committee of the Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences at the University of Haifa [Certificate #111/20].

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Authors’ contributions

S. R. Sznitman conceived and supervised the study, led the writing and the analyses. D. Rosenberg contributed to the analyses and assisted with writing up the result. N. Lewis contributed to the analyses and assisted with writing up of the result.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Oren Lebovitch, the Israeli Cannabis Magazine moderator, for hosting the survey and helping with recruitment. The authors would also like to thank the respondents who shared their experiences through taking part in each round of the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the author(s).