A description of self-medication with cannabis among adults with legal access to cannabis in Quebec, Canada

Table 2 Reasons for not seeking care in cannabis clinics among individuals who reported self-medication with cannabis in an online survey in Quebec from November 2020 to January 2021 (n = 489)

Reason	Gender^ab			Age^b			Type of cannabis use			Total
Reason	Men (n = 210)	Women (n = 213)	p-value	21-34 (n = 224)	> 34 (n = 214)	p-value	Medical only (n = 113)	Medical + recreational (n = 326)	p-value	Total
Never received information	102 (48.57)	122 (57.28)	0.07	135 (60.27)	97 (45.33)	0.002	60 (53.10)	172 (52.76)	0.95	232 (52.85)
Complexity of the process	98 (46.67)	69 (32.39)	0.003	96 (42.86)	78 (36.45)	0.17	38 (33.63)	137 (42.02)	0.13	175 (39.86)
Difficulty accessing medical cannabis clinics	61 (29.05)	36 (16.90)	0.003	60 (26.80)	42 (19.63)	0.07	20 (17.70)	82 (25.15)	0.11	102 (23.23)
The delay before obtaining cannabis is too long	43 (20.48)	24 (11.27)	0.009	44 (19.64)	27 (12.62)	0.04	16 (14.16)	55 (16.87)	0.50	71 (16.17)
Higher price of cannabis	35 (16.67)	16 (7.51)	0.004	23 (10.27)	30 (14.02)	0.23	16 (14.16)	37 (11.35)	0.43	53 (12.07)
Poor customer service with the clinics	7 (3.33)	5 (2.35)	0.54	8 (3.57)	6 (2.80)	0.65	7 (6.19)	7 (2.15)	0.03	14 (3.19)
Not satisfied with the characteristics of products	24 (11.43)	10 (4.69)	0.01	17 (7.59)	20 (9.35)	0.51	12 (10.62)	25 (7.67)	0.33	37 (8.43)
The inability to choose the products yourself	41 (19.52)	39 (18.31)	0.75	49 (21.88)	34 (15.89)	0.07	16 (14.16)	67 (20.55)	0.13	83 (18.91)
Follow-up with a doctor does not suit me	45 (21.43)	38 (17.84)	0.35	53 (23.66)	36 (16.82)	0.07	11 (9.73)	78 (23.93)	0.001	89 (20.27)
Refusal of physician	13 (6.19)	22 (10.33)	0.12	14 (6.25)	21 (9.81)	0.16	11 (9.73)	24 (7.36)	0.42	35 (7.97)
Other reasons^c	21 (10.00)	21 (9.86)	0.96	20 (8.93)	23 (10.75)	0.52	15 (13.27)	28 (8.59)	0.15	43 (9.79)

Comparisons between groups were made using chi-square tests and p-value calculated. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant
^aSixteen participants who reported other gender were not included in the stratification
^bFifty participants whose answer was “I don’t know” were not considered in the denominator, in addition to one missing for age categorization
^cOther reasons included the following: treated condition does not require a medical prescription (minor symptoms), in the process to obtain medical cannabis; no prescription, combine medical access with SQDC access, never engaged in the process/does not feel the need for a medical prescription, stigmatization by the healthcare system, legal access at SQDC thus no need to go in clinics, no clinic near their location

ISSN: 2522-5782