Gender Norms, Roles and Relations and Cannabis-Use Patterns: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Currently, boys and men use cannabis at higher rates than girls and women, but the gender gap is narrowing. With the legalization of recreational cannabis use in Canada and in multiple US states, these trends call for urgent attention to the need to consider how gender norms, roles and relations influence patterns of cannabis use to inform health promotion and prevention responses. Based on a scoping review on sex, gender and cannabis use, this article consolidates existing evidence from the academic literature on how gender norms, roles and relations impact cannabis-use patterns. Evidence is reviewed on: adherence to dominant masculine and feminine norms and cannabis-use patterns among adolescents and young adults, and how prevailing norms can be both reinstated or reimagined through cannabis use; gendered social dynamics in cannabis-use settings; and the impact of gender roles and relations on cannabis use among young adults of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Findings from the review are compared and contrasted with evidence on gender norms, roles and relations in the context of alcohol and tobacco use. Recommendations for integrating gender transformative principles in health promotion and prevention responses to cannabis use are provided.

Sex and Gender Interactions on the Use and Impact of Recreational Cannabis

“…This article draws on evidence from two scoping reviews examining sex and gender related factors in the context of cannabis use, including: (1) a scoping review on sex, gender and substance use which identified n = 784 papers on cannabis; and (2) a more specific scoping review on sex, gender and cannabis routes of administration. The methods for the former are described in full in Hemsing and Greaves [23]. The methods for the latter review are described below.…”

Missing in Action: Sex and Gender in Substance Use Research

“…For example, in preparing for the systematic review described in detail in Hemsing and Greaves [18] in this issue, aimed at identifying relevant evidence on four drugs (alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and opioids) that reflected on sex and/or gender, a team of researchers at the Centre of Excellence for Women's Health encountered several issues. We had intended to do a quality appraisal of each selected study and to use Morgan et al Feminist Appraisal Tool to assist with the appraising of gender, as an additional filter prior to drawing conclusions [26].…”

“…While the past twenty years has seen a rise in interest and application of sex and gender science in health, the substance use field has been slow to insist on the inclusion of these concepts. This special issue [5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] is aimed at providing a remedy for this lack, and more importantly, to provide examples of the impact of sex and gender in a range of substances, cultures, populations and contexts.…”

“…These articles address concepts [5], different substances such as alcohol [12,19,23], cannabis [5,17,18], illegal drugs [13], nicotine [11,12], opioids [14], and multi drug use [10], populations such as gay and bisexual men [13], fathers [20], mothers [15], pregnant women [9,23], patients [9,17] and adolescents [14]. They address interactions with interpersonal violence [22], treatment responses [21], abortion policy [23], other harms [12] in a range of settings in countries including Spain, Scotland, Turkey, Canada, China, Taiwan, and the USA.…”

Gender Informed or Gender Ignored? Opportunities for Gender Transformative Approaches in Brief Alcohol Interventions on College Campuses

“…For the full methods and search strategy of the original scoping review see Hemsing et al (forthcoming) [22].…”