Past 30-Day Cannabis Use by Perception of Risk and Age Group: Implications for Prevention

Purpose: The use of cannabis is an important public health concern in the United States. The connection between perceived risk and cannabis use has been documented in the substance use literature for youth and adults.

Design: Examine how past 30-day cannabis use is influenced by the interaction between perceived risk and age.

Subjects: Nationally representative sample of individuals ages 12 and older in the United States.

Measures: Secondary data analysis of the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 58, 034).

Analysis: Binary logistic regression that included the complex sampling elements of the survey.

Results: Support was found for an interaction between age and perceived risk. Most notably, the sharpest increase in the probability of cannabis use occurred between the 12-17 and 18-25 year-old age groups for no/low risk perception.

Conclusion: Addressing the perceived risk of cannabis use at younger ages - specifically adolescence - may be an important prevention strategy for later cannabis use. Results directly inform preventive interventions regarding by indicating the age groups that at are at a higher probability for using cannabis based on perceived risk levels. This study adds to the literature by directly testing an interaction between perceived risk and age on the probability of using cannabis in the past 30-days at the population level.