Key Messages
Used Cannabis in the Past Year
How often students use Cannabis
How students are using Cannabis
First Time Use
Perceived Risk of Regular Cannabis Use
Technical Notes
Key Messages
- In 2019, one-in-four Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 to 12 reported using cannabis in the past year; by Grades 11 and 12, this figure doubled to nearly half of all students.
- Approximately one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka high school students reported using cannabis at least weekly in the past month and one-in-twenty reported using it daily.
- The use of a cannabis edible in the past year among high school cannabis users in Simcoe Muskoka is significantly higher than the provincial average.
- One-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 to 12 reported using cannabis for the first time in the previous year.
- One-in-four students surveyed reported that regular cannabis use has low to no risk of health harms.
- Cannabis use among Simcoe Muskoka students did not change significantly when comparing the results from the 2019 survey with those from 2015.
Used Cannabis in the Past Year
- In 2019, one-quarter of Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 to 12 reported using cannabis in the past year, which was similar to what was reported in the 2015 survey.
- By Grades 11 and 12, nearly half of Simcoe Muskoka students reported using cannabis in the past year, which was significantly higher when compared to students in Grades 9 and 10. Ninety-seven per cent of Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 and 8 reported not using cannabis in the past year.
- The per cent of Simcoe Muskoka high school students who reported cannabis use in the past year was significantly higher than the comparable provincial average. This difference was largest among students in Grades 11 and 12.
- More students with lower perceived socio-economic status and students with poorer self-rated mental health reported using cannabis in the past year.
- The long-term provincial trend shows that cannabis use among Ontario students declined significantly between 1999 and 2011, but has remained relatively stable since then.
Provincial Trends
How often students use Cannabis
- In 2019, 15% (11.6%, 19.9%) of Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 to 12 reported using cannabis six or more times in the past year, which was similar to the 2015 survey results.
- One-quarter of Simcoe Muskoka high school students reported using cannabis at least once or twice in the past month and this was significantly higher among students in Grades 11 and 12 when compared with students in Grades 9 and 10.
- Approximately one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka high school students reported using cannabis at least weekly in the past month and one-in-twenty reported using it daily.
- More frequent cannabis use is higher among students with lower perceived socio-economic status and students with poorer self-rated mental health.
- The provincial trend in using cannabis weekly in the past month did not change significantly over the past several survey cycles; however, the current estimate is significantly lower than what was reported from 1999 to 2003.
Provincial Trends
How students are using Cannabis
- In 2019, among Simcoe Muskoka high school students that reported using cannabis in the past year, the most common modes of use were: joint, bong, edibles, vaping and blunt.
- The use of a cannabis edible in the past year was significantly higher among Simcoe Muskoka students when compared with the province as a whole.
- The use of a cannabis edible in the past year increases among high school students in higher grade levels.
First Time Use
- In 2019, approximately one-in-ten Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 to 12 reported trying cannabis for the first time in the past year, which was similar to what was reported in 2015.
- The provincial trend in first time cannabis use has remained relatively stable over the past two decades, fluctuating between eight and ten per cent of Grades 7 to 12 students.
Provincial Trends
Perceived Risk of Regular Cannabis Use
- In 2019, more than half of Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 7 to 12 reported that regular use of cannabis is a great or medium risk of harm to their health; however, one-quarter of students reported low to no risk of harm to their health from regular cannabis use.
- The perception of low to no risk of harm to their health from regular cannabis use increases significantly with higher grade level and is significantly higher among male students when compared with female students.
Technical Notes
Information presented on this page is from the 2019 survey cycle of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), unless otherwise specified. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has been conducting the survey since 1977, making OSDUHS the longest ongoing school survey in Canada. Over 1,200 Simcoe Muskoka students in grades seven to twelve were surveyed as part of the 2019 OSDUHS.
The data presented in the text and charts above was analyzed by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) using the 2019 OSDUHS data conducted by CAMH and administered by the Institute for Social Research at York University in Toronto, Ontario. The contents above and interpretation are solely the responsibility of SMDHU and do not necessarily represent the official view of CAMH.
Further Reading
For more information about youth cannabis use:
Page Last Modified: July 8, 2020.