If cannabis use is increasing among workers what are the implications for policy? A secondary analysis of a nationally representative Australian dataset

Abstract

Patterns, prevalence and predictors of past year cannabis use were examined by industry and occupation groups through secondary analyses of Australia’s triennial National Drug Strategy Household Surveys (2010, 2013, 2016, 2019). Frequency analyses examined cannabis prevalence. Logistic regression models estimated adjusted effects of demographics on cannabis use amongst employees overall, and within industries and occupations where prevalence differed from the employed national average. Workers’ cannabis use increased 17.4% between 2010 and 2019. Workers most likely to use cannabis in all models were male, smokers, aged 14–24 years, and with very high psychological distress levels. Prevalence was highest among trade workers (18.2%) and those in Arts and Recreation Services (26.6%). The greatest relative increases occurred in industries where prevalence levels were traditionally very low. To date, cannabis-related workplace policies and interventions have been predicated on any level of use being potentially risky. However, greater social acceptability, more lenient legal constraints, and increased medicinal use of cannabis necessitates approaches that reflect changing social norms and address the needs of workers vulnerable to harm. Findings highlight the importance of reconceptualizing risk mitigation strategies and implementing novel and effective prevention, intervention approaches and policies tailored to specific workforce settings and populations with differing risk profiles.

Keywords:

• Cannabis
• trends over time
• workforce
• policy
• industry
• occupation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health.