Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40909151›Full record

ArticleCannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.)2025

Cannabis Use Characteristics and Reasons for Product Choices Among Patients Accessing Treatment for Substance Use Disorders: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Justin Matheson, Harseerat Saini, Rebecca Haines-Saah, Marcos Sanches, Matthew E Sloan, Adam Zaweel, Ahmed Hassan, Leslie Buckley, Amy Porathl, James MacKillop and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Justin MathesonInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Harseerat SainiInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Rebecca Haines-SaahCumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.
Marcos SanchesBiostatistics Core, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Matthew E SloanInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Adam ZaweelInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Ahmed HassanInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Leslie BuckleyAddictions Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Amy PorathlKnowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions.
James MacKillopMichael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, McMaster University and St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.
Christian S HendershotDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences and Institute for Addiction Science, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
Stefan KloiberDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.
Bernard Le FollInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: The diversity and potency of cannabis products have increased in recent years, underscoring the importance of understanding which products are being used and why. Patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) use have a high prevalence of risky cannabis use, making it especially important to understand use patterns in this group. We aimed to first describe cannabis product characteristics and then explore reasons for choosing products in our sample. Method: In this mixed-methods study, 472 adults who self-reported accessing SUD treatment and lifetime cannabis use completed an online survey. A subset of 22 participants completed in-depth interviews. Quantitative results focused on describing cannabis use characteristics (e.g., product types) among participants reporting past-year cannabis use (current use group) or lifetime cannabis use but no use in past year (past use group), while qualitative descriptive analysis was used to describe reasons for choosing products among participants who were currently using cannabis. Results: Across medical and non-medical use of cannabis, dried flower and smoked cannabis formulations were most used (e.g., 89% of the current use group reported smoking cannabis for non-medical purposes), followed by edibles (e.g., 53% of the current use group used edible formulations of cannabis for non-medical purposes), though there was considerable use of higher-potency products such as concentrates and dabs (e.g., 11% of the current use group had used dabs for non-medical purposes). Our qualitative analysis found that almost all participants were motivated by THC content when purchasing products, yet sometimes perceived medical benefits or harm reduction were reasons for using certain products (especially CBD-dominant products), while sometimes other factors (e.g., convenience, familiarity) were influential. Conclusions: Cannabis use characteristics (including motives for choosing products) are complex and nuanced in patients accessing SUD treatment. More work is needed to understand longitudinal relationships between use of different cannabis products and both harms and potential benefits.

Indexed as

addiction treatmentcannabisharm reductionmedical cannabissubstance use disorder

Identifiers

PMID40909151
PMCPMC12406235

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.