A new study suggests that two-thirds of Canada’s cannabis consumption can be attributed to the top 10 percent of the country’s users.

The multi-institutional study looked at data from Statistics Canada’s 2018 National Cannabis Survey and found that males between the ages of 15 and 34 were “disproportionately represented” in this group of heavy users.

Not quite a shocker, but researchers confirmed suspicions that usage patterns for the drug would resemble those seen for alcohol.

Russell Callaghan, one of the study’s co-authors, told The Varsity that excessive use by young males is not particularly surprising as the group, as a whole, is typically more prone to risk-taking behaviour, particularly when it comes to drugs and alcohol.

Understanding which segments of the population are more likely to use a drug can help direct future study and treatment efforts. “Usually when we understand the population distributions of, let’s say, cannabis use or alcohol use, it will give us a sense of where the harms might be,” Callaghan said. 

In the case of alcohol, the study pointed out that the top 10 percent of people who consume the substance in the U.S. are responsible for more than half of the country’s consumption. However, more of the harms from alcohol come from the group of moderate users simply because it is a larger group.

Mapping out these groups in the U.S. help policymakers and health professionals better understand and treat the problem.

The authors said future research is now needed to identify the characteristics that typify the heavy user group and look at how “population-level cannabis consumption patterns relate to the calculus of cannabis-related harms in society.”

Callaghan told The Varsity that treatment, incentives, pricing, adjusting cannabis availability in stores and store density are all part of the mix of options that mayhelp reduce potential harm from cannabis use, depending on the results of future research.