A new report says young people in BC who have tried cannabis were at the lowest rate in 25 years in 2023, with youth less likely to consume cannabis five years into cannabis legalization. However, those who do report using cannabis appear to be using it more often. 

The Blunt Talk report is the third of its kind to look at cannabis use among youth in British Columbia, drawing upon data from the BC Adolescent Health Survey. That survey is conducted every five years, with the most recent previous data coming from 2018. 

Findings from the newest 2023 BC AHS report showed that the percentage of youth aged 12-18 who reported trying cannabis decreased from 25% in 2018 to 22% in 2023.

Of those who did report trying cannabis, fewer say they smoked it, while more said they consumed it in the form of an edible (73% vs. 88% in 2018 and 23% vs.16% in 2023).

Of those young people who reported consuming cannabis, fewer said they did so prior to driving or to being a passenger in a vehicle. 

Cannabis use became more common as age increased. Just 3% of youth aged 12 or younger reported trying cannabis, compared to 22% of 15-year-olds and 42% of 18-year-olds. The most commonly reported age to begin using cannabis was 14. 

Despite these decreases, though, young people who did report using cannabis were more likely to use it regularly (20 times within the last month) and were more likely to say they needed help addressing their cannabis use, compared to 2018. Young people in BC were more likely to have tried alcohol than cannabis, but of those who reported cannabis use, they were more likely to have used it regularly.

While young British Columbians who reported never having tried cannabis reported the most positive health and well-being, those who had used it six or more days in the past month reported the least positive health and well-being. 

While cannabis use has often been more common among males, 2023 was the first year females were more likely to have reported trying cannabis. They were also more likely to have first used it at age 14 or younger (58% vs. 53% of males; among those who had tried it), and to say they needed help to address their use. 

Those young people who were born in Canada were more likely to have reported trying cannabis than those born outside the country. Those with an Indigenous family background were more likely to have reported trying cannabis, followed by European and Caribbean. The least likely to report using cannabis were from Middle Eastern or Asian family backgrounds. 

Young people in BC’s North and Interior regions and Vancouver Island were more likely to report cannabis use than those in coastal Vancouver or the Fraser Valley. 

Youth who tried cannabis were also more likely to have experienced challenges in their life, like housing instability or the death of a loved one, as were those who worked a paid job outside of the home. 

The 2023 BC AHS was the seventh iteration of the survey, and was completed by youth aged 12–19 in 2,316 classrooms in 59 of BC’s 60 school districts.

The full report is available here.

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