Canadian cannabis consumers increasingly preferred legal products, except for price, over 3 years
Three years after legalization, Canadian cannabis consumers viewed legal products as safer and more convenient to buy, but still perceived them as more expensive, with frequent users the most skeptical.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
By 2021, consumers perceived legal cannabis as safer to buy (54%), more convenient (47.8%), but more expensive (47.2%) than illegal cannabis. Perceptions improved from 2019 to 2021 across all measures except price. Convenience perception tripled (AOR 3.09). More frequent users had less favorable perceptions.
Key Numbers
15,311 consumers. Legal perceived as: safer to buy (54.0%), more convenient (47.8%), more expensive (47.2%), safer to use (46.8%), higher quality (29.3%). Convenience perception: AOR 3.09 from 2019 to 2021. Frequent users had less favorable perceptions across all measures.
How They Did This
Repeat cross-sectional survey from the International Cannabis Policy Study (2019-2021). 15,311 past-12-month Canadian cannabis consumers of legal purchasing age. Weighted logistic regression examined perceptions by province, year, and use frequency.
Why This Research Matters
The success of cannabis legalization in displacing the illegal market depends on consumer willingness to buy legal products. This study tracks whether perceptions are shifting in the right direction.
The Bigger Picture
The steady improvement in legal cannabis perceptions suggests the regulated market is gaining ground, but the persistent price gap and the skepticism of heavy users indicate challenges remain.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Self-reported perceptions may not reflect actual purchasing behavior. Online panel may underrepresent some demographics. Provincial policy differences may confound national trends.
Questions This Raises
- ?Will price competitiveness ever match the illegal market?
- ?Can quality perception improvements continue without direct comparison marketing?
- ?Why do frequent users remain most skeptical?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Convenience perception tripled from 2019 to 2021
- Evidence Grade:
- Moderate: large repeat cross-sectional survey with consistent methodology, but perceptions rather than behavior.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2022.
- Original Title:
- Consumer perceptions of legal cannabis products in Canada, 2019-2021: a repeat cross-sectional study.
- Published In:
- BMC public health, 22(1), 2048 (2022)
- Authors:
- Wadsworth, Elle(11), Fataar, Fathima, Goodman, Samantha(6), Smith, Danielle M, Renard, Justine, Gabrys, Robert, Jesseman, Rebecca, Hammond, David
- Database ID:
- RTHC-04286
Evidence Hierarchy
A snapshot of a population at one point in time.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Do Canadians prefer legal cannabis?
Increasingly, yes. By 2021, most consumers viewed legal cannabis as safer to buy (54%) and nearly half found it more convenient (48%). But most still perceived it as more expensive, and only 29% rated it as higher quality.
Are frequent users different?
Yes. More frequent cannabis consumers had less favorable perceptions of legal products across all measures, suggesting the legal market has more work to do to win over its heaviest customers.
Has the perception trend been positive?
Yes. Between 2019 and 2021, perceptions of legal cannabis improved across all measures except the safety of purchasing, which was already high.
Read More on RethinkTHC
- 420-sober-survival-guide
- CBT-cannabis-recovery
- cannabis-relapse-cycle-pattern
- cold-turkey-vs-taper-quit-weed
- dating-sober-after-quitting-weed
- exercise-quitting-weed-anxiety-brain
- grieving-quitting-weed-loss
- help-someone-quit-weed
- how-to-quit-weed
- journaling-weed-withdrawal
- marijuana-anonymous-SMART-recovery-compare
- meditation-mindfulness-weed-withdrawal
- partner-still-smokes-weed
- partner-still-smokes-weed-quitting
- pink-cloud-sobriety-cannabis
- quit-weed-cold-turkey
- quit-weed-or-cut-back-which-is-better
- quit-weed-regret-went-back
- quitting-weed-20s
- quitting-weed-30s
- quitting-weed-after-years
- quitting-weed-during-crisis-divorce-job-loss
- quitting-weed-exercise
- quitting-weed-grief-loss-coping
- quitting-weed-legal-state
- quitting-weed-success-stories
- quitting-weed-triggers-environment
- relapsed-smoking-weed-what-to-do
- relapsed-weed
- should-i-quit-weed
- sober-music-festival-concert-without-weed
- supplements-weed-withdrawal
- telling-friends-quitting-weed
- weed-relapse-prevention-plan
- weed-relapse-why-it-happens
- weed-ritual-replacement
- weed-ruined-relationships
- weed-social-media-triggers-quit
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-04286APA
Wadsworth, Elle; Fataar, Fathima; Goodman, Samantha; Smith, Danielle M; Renard, Justine; Gabrys, Robert; Jesseman, Rebecca; Hammond, David. (2022). Consumer perceptions of legal cannabis products in Canada, 2019-2021: a repeat cross-sectional study.. BMC public health, 22(1), 2048. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14492-z
MLA
Wadsworth, Elle, et al. "Consumer perceptions of legal cannabis products in Canada, 2019-2021: a repeat cross-sectional study.." BMC public health, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14492-z
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Consumer perceptions of legal cannabis products in Canada, 2..." RTHC-04286. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/wadsworth-2022-consumer-perceptions-of-legal
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.