Two researchers at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick are conducting a study in hopes of gaining an understanding of cannabis use on campus.
Christiana MacDougall, assistant professor of sociology and women and gender studies at Mount Allison and Matt Maston, a disability services advisor, are aiming to find out students’ perceptions about cannabis through interviews with student cannabis users.
Maston says it is important to learn about cannabis from the users themselves.
“These users can provide an insider’s view of motivations, influences, effects, and so on,” he said. “It is important to learn about the perceptions that users have in order to better comprehend why users choose to consume and how they understand the effects.”
The study aims to help students make informed decisions about their cannabis use, as MacDougall says it is important to understand student’s motivations for use in order to pitch education and harm reduction programs that suit them.
The interviews conducted are loosely structured, asking students questions on their cannabis use, motivations and influences for using, how they consume cannabis, and how they perceive the effects of use on their health and life as a student.
It is also focusing on how the legalization of cannabis has affected the drug’s use among students.
MacDougall and Maston believe their research can add to the academic world and inform other researchers and post-secondary educators.
By gaining student insight, Maston said it is “valuable when we are thinking about implementing harm-reduction strategies and further programming on campus regarding substance use.”
Zachary Patterson, a neuroscience instructor at Carleton, said there is a lot of information to still be discovered regarding cannabis and the way it affects the brain.
Patterson said the long-term effects of cannabis on the brain are not fully understood, especially on the brains of young students, which are still in development.
“What we do know with confidence is that early, frequent, and heavy cannabis use does influence the trajectory of early development,” Patterson said.
He said he believes that a lot of the information about how different strains of cannabis affect different people is still unknown to researchers.
He urges students to be critical consumers of information.
“It is important that particularly our students are able to understand where the sources of information are, and quality of that source of information, and use that information to make an important decision, whether you’re going to use cannabis or not,” Patterson said.
He said he believes there is a stigma around cannabis use, which is slowly changing after national legalization.
“I suppose the broader acceptance of cannabis use in the post-legalization era will work towards the reduction of stigma,” Patterson said.
MacDougall and Maston said their research will work towards reducing the stigma as well.
They hope that their research findings will be helpful in opening up broader conversations about a range of different types of cannabis use.
“I believe it’s important to have information that helps us understand what people see as the pros and cons of use so that we can intervene helpfully if it is needed, and not over-react if it is not needed,” MacDougall said.
The researchers said their interviews have brought forward interesting ideas thus far, as they both look forward to hearing what information students share with them.
“There are definitely risks associated with cannabis use—it’s not a risk-free drug. But, it’s hard to have helpful conversations about this when stigma prevents open discussion,” MacDougall said.
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Image by Nicole Quigley
