Interviews with 88 people in Ontario revealed widespread concern about youth cannabis risks alongside normalization of use, with all groups identifying structural barriers like inaccessible services and inadequate public education.
Cannabis policy makers, youth substance use counselors, and harm reduction program designers
88 participants across three stakeholder groups
What the researchers found
Two themes emerged around perceived harms: concerns about addiction, brain development, motivation, and mental health impacts; and minimization of risks through conflicting messages, normalization, and perceptions of cannabis as less harmful than other substances. Harm reduction themes included implementation challenges and structural barriers such as unavailable services, easy cannabis access, and insufficient public education.
Why it matters
Five years after Canadian legalization, hearing directly from youth, parents, and service providers about what is and is not working for harm reduction provides actionable insights for policy improvement.
The numbers in context
88 participants: 31 youth, 26 parents, 31 service providers; 4 main themes identified; structural barriers included unavailable/inaccessible services, easy access to cannabis, inadequate public education, and insufficient lower-risk use guidelines
How the study worked
Community-based participatory research in partnership with Families for Addiction Recovery. Virtual semi-structured interviews with 88 participants (31 youth, 26 parents, 31 service providers) in Ontario, Canada. Data analyzed using thematic analysis.
What this study cannot tell us
Participants recruited through an addiction recovery charity, potentially skewing toward those with negative experiences; Ontario-specific findings; qualitative design not generalizable; no quantitative outcome measures
How to read the evidence
Qualitative study with purposive sampling through an addiction recovery organization, providing rich descriptive data but not population-representative.
When this study was published
2024 study conducted post-2018 Canadian legalization
The bigger picture
Canada legalized cannabis partly to protect youth, but this study suggests the public education and harm reduction components have not kept pace with legalization, leaving youth, parents, and providers struggling to navigate the new landscape.
Questions still open
- What specific harm reduction messages resonate with youth versus parents? How can provinces improve service accessibility? Would standardized lower-risk guidelines reduce youth harms?
Common questions
What concerned youth, parents, and providers most about cannabis?
What barriers exist for harm reduction?
Read the original research
Reducing the harms of cannabis use in youth post-legalization: insights from Ontario youth, parents, and service providers.
Harm reduction journal, 21(1), 193
Citation
Kourgiantakis, Toula; Hamilton, Angie; Tait, Christine; Tekirdag Kosar, A Kumsal; Lau, Carrie K Y; McNeil, Sandra; Lee, Eunjung; Craig, Shelley; Goldstein, Abby L. (2024). Reducing the harms of cannabis use in youth post-legalization: insights from Ontario youth, parents, and service providers.. Harm reduction journal, 21(1), 193. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-01112-9
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