Income inequality and daily use of cannabis, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes among Canadian secondary school students: Results from COMPASS 2018-19

Claire Benny; Brian J Steele; Karen A Patte; Scott T Leatherdale; Roman Pabayo

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104014

Income inequality and daily use of cannabis, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes among Canadian secondary school students: Results from COMPASS 2018-19

Int J Drug Policy. 2023 May:115:104014. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104014. Epub 2023 Mar 30.

Authors

Claire Benny¹, Brian J Steele², Karen A Patte³, Scott T Leatherdale⁴, Roman Pabayo²

Affiliations

¹ 3-300 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, University of Alberta School of Public Health, 11405-87 Ave, T6G 1C9 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: cbenny@ualberta.ca.
² 3-300 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, University of Alberta School of Public Health, 11405-87 Ave, T6G 1C9 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
³ Brock University Department of Health Sciences, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, L2S 3A1 St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ University of Waterloo School of Public Health Sciences, 200 University Ave West, TJB 2317, N2L 3G1 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 37003193
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104014

Abstract

Introduction: Cannabis, cigarette, and e-cigarette use among Canadian adolescents is a major public health concern. Income inequality has been associated with adverse mental health among youth and may contribute to the risk of frequent cannabis, cigarette, and e-cigarette use. We tested the association between income inequality and the risk of daily cannabis, cigarette, and e-cigarette use among Canadian secondary school students.

Methods: We used individual-level survey data from Year 6 (2018/19) of Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol use, Smoking, and Sedentary Behavior (COMPASS) and area-level data from the 2016 Canadian Census. Three-level logistic models were used to assess the relationship between income inequality and adolescent daily and current cannabis use, cigarette smoking, and e-cigarette use.

Results: The analytic sample included 74,501 students aged 12-19. Students were most likely to report being male (50.4%), white (69.1%), and having weekly spending money over $100 (23.5%). We found that a standard deviation unit increase in Gini coefficient was significantly associated with increased likelihood of daily cannabis use (OR=1.25, 95% CI = 1.01-1.54) when adjusting for relevant covariates. We found no significant relationship between income inequality and daily smoking. While Gini was not significantly associated with daily e-cigarette use, we observed a significant interaction between Gini and gender (OR=0.87, 95% CI= 0.80-0.94), indicating that increased income inequality was associated with higher risk of reporting daily e-cigarette use among females only.

Discussion: An association between income inequality and the likelihood of reporting daily cannabis use across all students and daily e-cigarette use in females were observed. Schools in higher income inequality areas may benefit from targeted prevention and harm reduction programs. Results emphasize the need for upstream discussion on policies that can mitigate the potential effects income inequality.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cannabis; Cigarette; E-cigarette; Income inequality.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Canada / epidemiology
Cannabis*
Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems*
Female
Humans
Male
Schools
Students / psychology
Tobacco Products*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding