Cannabis use motives and associations with personal and work characteristics among Canadian workers: a cross-sectional study

Research on cannabis use motives has focused on youth. Little is known about motives among working adults, including how work may play a role. This study aimed to describe cannabis use motives and their connection to work, and identify the personal and work correlates of work-related motives among a sample of workers.

A national, cross-sectional sample of Canadian workers were queried about their cannabis use. Workers reporting past-year cannabis use (n = 589) were asked their motives for using cannabis and whether each motive was related to work or helped them manage at work (i.e., work-related). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the associations of personal and work characteristics with work-related cannabis use motives (no work-related motives, < 50% of motives work-related, ≥ 50% of motives work-related).

Use for relaxation (59.3%), enjoyment (47.2%), social reasons (35.3%), coping (35.1%), medical reasons (30.9%), and sleep (29.9%) were the most common motives. Almost 40% of respondents reported one or more of their cannabis use motives were work-related, with coping (19.9%) and relaxation (16.3%) most commonly reported as work-related. Younger age, poorer general health, greater job stress, having a supervisory role, and hazardous work were associated with increased odds of reporting at least some cannabis use motives to be work-related, while work schedule and greater frequency of alcohol use were associated with reduced odds of motives being primarily work-related.

Cannabis use motives among workers are diverse and frequently associated with work. Greater attention to the role of work in motivating cannabis use is warranted.