Interrupted time series analysis of Canadian legal cannabis sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

There were repeated reports of increased cannabis sales, use and health impacts in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was unclear whether the increases were due to pandemic effects or industry expansion.

Methods

We performed interrupted time series regressions of monthly per capita legal cannabis sales from March 2019 to February 2021, first with national averages, then with provincial/territorial data after adjusting for store density. We considered two interruption alternatives: January 2020, when product variety increased; and March 2020, when pandemic restrictions began.

Results

The provincial/territorial regression with the January interruption explained R²  = 69.6% of within-jurisdiction variation: baseline monthly per capit

SUBMITTER: Armstrong MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9111650 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature