Measuring self-reported change in alcohol and cannabis consumption during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada./ Mesurer les changements autodéclarés relatifs à la consommation d'alcool et de cannabis au cours de la deuxième vague de la pandémie de COVID 19 au Canada

Varin, Mélanie; Hill MacEachern, Kate; Hussain, Nousin; Baker, Melissa M

This study presents nationally representative estimates of self-reported changes in alcohol and cannabis consumption since the onset of COVID-19 in Canada. We used data from the Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health (collected from September to December 2020) to calculate the prevalence of self-reported change in alcohol and cannabis consumption. We found that 15.7% of respondents self-reported an increase in alcohol consumption and 5.4% in cannabis consumption since the start of the pandemic. Sociodemographic disparities were also observed, indicating that increased alcohol and cannabis consumption may be more prevalent among certain populations.