Examining the differences between medical and recreational cannabis growers

What is it about?

Six thousand eight hundred ninety six respondents who took part in an online survey were divided into three groups as: those who reported growing for recreational use, those cultivating for medical purposes who also reported use of other illegal drugs, and those who reported cultivation for medical use and didn’t use other illegal substances. The groups were compared using statistical tests. In comparison to recreational growers, the two groups of medical growers included more females, consumed cannabis more frequently, and were more likely to cite health-related motivations for growing. The medical growers without other illicit drug use shared some of the same features with the medical growers with illicit drug use, but in comparison to both other groups, they were older, used less alcohol and tobacco, and were less likely to be involved in illicit activities other than drug crimes. Findings suggest that claims of medical use are not simply an attempt to justify personal cannabis consumption, but do at least partly reflect a genuine belief in medical benefit. However, those growing cannabis for medical reasons form a heterogeneous group of people.

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Why is it important?

With medical cannabis becoming increasingly widely used, both in countries with legal medical cannabis and those without, understanding those who grow their own cannabis for medical use has important public health implications. On the one hand, genuine medical benefits from self-produced and self-administered cannabis can alleviate individual suffering and pressures on public health systems. On the other hand, those consuming self-produced cannabis may expose themselves to risks inherent in unregulated cannabis production and use.