Similarly, in a study among U.S. cannabis consumers, higher rates of home cultivation were found among those living in rural areas of the U.S . It may suggest that Canadians residing in rural areas may have more land and space to grow, further from retail stores, or comfort to grow undetected or without disturbing neighbours. Indeed, respondents living in smaller living spaces in urban settings may be further influenced by restrictions on home cultivation in rented accommodation or shared living spaces . A strength of the current study is its inclusion of both consumers and non-consumers . Previous research focuses on cannabis consumers, where more frequent cannabis grow lights consumers have higher rates of home cultivation than infrequent consumers, as seen in the current study . However, non-consumers also grow cannabis plants either for sharing or sale, and therefore should be included in research. The Canadian Cannabis Survey included non-consumers in their 2020 study; however, the survey did not specify personal cultivation by non-consumers, i.e., non-consumers could report home cultivation in their home by others . Future research should capture non-consumers in studies around home cultivation and examine the reasons for growing. This study is subject to limitations common to survey research.
Respondents were recruited using non-probability-based sampling; therefore, the findings do not necessarily provide nationally representative estimates. The data were weighted by age group, sex, region, education and smoking status in Canada. Cannabis use estimates were generally lower than national estimates for young adults, and higher than national surveys in Canada. This is likely because the ICPS sampled individuals aged 16–65, whereas national surveys included older adults, who are known to have lower rates of cannabis use. The 2018 survey did not ask all respondents about home cultivation, only past 12-month cannabis consumers. We were therefore unable to examine the changes between 2018 and 2019/2020 among all respondents, only past 12-month consumers.A total of 15% of the sample in the regression analysis were removed due to missing values in rural/urban status. To ensure we were not introducing substantial bias into the analyses, we conducted a sensitivity analysis with rural/urban status removed and similar patterns emerged. The survey did not clarify whether the amount spent on plants/seeds or clones corresponded with the number of plants grown, i.e., some seeds may not have been planted or completed gestation. Therefore, the ‘price per plant’ value may change depending on whether only ‘successful’ plants or incomplete plants were counted.
The use of cannabis has been legalized in varying degrees across the globe, with Canada legalizing it for recreational use in 2018. As a result, there has been an increased urgency to better understand its impact on driving performance and safety. Cannabis affects cognitive, sensory, and motor functions that are important for safety–critical tasks such as driving, including judgement, working memory, response time, coordination, and concentration . The cannabis grow tent plant is composed of over 400 chemical compounds, including over 60 cannabinoids . The primary psychoactive component is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol . This ingredient, along with its psychoactive and non-psychoactive metabolites, is responsible for the majority of the behavioural and pharmacological effects of cannabis use . However, there is limited scientific consensus on identifying THC concentration levels that objectively define levels of impairment , due to a poor concentration–response relationship between THC levels in bodily fluid samples and driving performance . Thus, it is important to develop methods that will aid in determining whether cannabis use affects driving performance and in what ways.
The two most prevalent methods for cannabis consumption are inhalation and oral ingestion. Cannabis inhalation results in a fast peak of THC concentration in blood and saliva within the first 5–15 min after smoking , as well as a fast decrease due to the half-life of THC being approximately 1.5–2 h depending on individual usage history and other factors . On the other hand, after oral ingestion absorption of THC into the bloodstream is significantly slower, with peak blood THC levels observed 1 to 5 h after administration . Inhalation results in onset of impairment within a few minutes and recovery within a few hours, while the impairing effects from ingestion begin within 1–2 h and end up to 12 h after use . It is also important to note that blood or saliva THC levels are not necessarily directly associated with the degree of behavioural impairment .