Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite cannabis legalization in Canada, stigma towards cannabis consumers remains evident, particularly toward younger cannabis consumers. Our study examined how stigma towards a young cannabis consumer differed by age and gender. Additionally, we explored the impacts of the participants' cannabis consumption, age, and gender identity on their perceptions of stigma. METHODS: Canadian citizens, ages 18 years and older completed an online cross-sectional survey using an experimental vignette design (N = 1,114). Participants were randomly assigned to read one of six vignettes depicting a cannabis consumer that varied by age (14, 21, and 28 years) and gender (man, woman). Participants completed the Social Distance Survey as the dependent measure of stigma. Two factorial ANOVAs were conducted to assess the impacts of the vignette character's age and gender, as well as the participant's age and gender identity, on stigma. RESULTS: Participants (Mage = 48.42, SD = 16.64) displayed more stigmatizing attitudes towards adolescent consumers (14-years-old) compared to 21-years-old or 28-years-old consumers. Additionally, older participants (70 + years) displayed more stigmatizing attitudes than younger participants (18-29 and 30-39 years old). Finally, participants who had not consumed cannabis within the past 6-months displayed more stigmatizing attitudes than those who reported any cannabis use frequency. CONCLUSIONS: Stigma remains a concern, particularly toward younger cannabis consumers. These findings highlight the importance of developing targeted, early interventions, and education strategies aimed at reducing stigma, especially among those who hold more stigmatizing attitudes, such as non-cannabis consumers and older individuals, which could help mitigate negative outcomes like decreased help-seeking behavior and social isolation. IMPACT STATEMENT: Stigma toward cannabis consumers was greatest for younger consumers (14-years-old), followed by 21 and 28-year-olds. Specifically, older generations (70 + year old's) endorsed more stigma compared to younger generations. There were no main effects on stigma toward cannabis consumers based on the vignette character's gender or research participants' gender identity.