Determinants of Intention to Use Medical Cannabis among People in the Northeast of Thailand

Abstract

Background: Despite has been illegal in many counties, cannabis is the most frequently used illicit drug

worldwide. The legalization of medical cannabis (MC) in Thailand has just been effective in 2019, resulted

in increasing demand for MC use of which many are inappropriate use. Therefore, this study aimed to

describe the current situation of intention to use medical cannabis and identify factors associated with MC

demand in the Northeast of Thailand.

Method: This analytical cross-sectional study administered a multistage random sampling to select

1,273 peoples in the Northeast of Thailand. Data were collected by using a self-administered structured

questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the determinants of intention to use

MC among people in the Northeast of Thailand, presented adjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval, and

p-values.

Result: The results indicated that most of the respondents had intention to use MC (75.81%). The factors

that were significantly associated with intention to use MC included; had good to very good levels of attitude

toward MC (adj.OR = 3.74; 95%CI: 2.77-5.04), ever received information on MC (adj.OR = 2.16; 95%CI:

1.59-2.94), lived in urban areas (adj.OR = 1.90; 95%CI: 1.40-2.57), had sufficient and excellent levels of

health literacy in understanding information on MC (adj.OR = 1.56; 95%CI: 1.18-2.06) and had low and

average levels of knowledge concerning MC (adj.OR = 1.51; 95%CI: 1.12-2.05) when controlling other

covariates.

Conclusion: Most of the people in the Northeast region had intention to use MC. Attitude, knowledge,

health literacy, acquiring information and residential setting had influence on intention to use MC.