Prior research has identified numerous factors associated with cannabis use. Factors associated with cannabis use can differ among sex and age subgroups (Copeland and Swift, 2009; Guxens et al., 2007), warranting the need for stratified analyses. Cannabis use is associated with lower education achievement (Lynsky and Hall, 2000; Fergusson et al., 2003), lower productivity at work, higher neighborhood disorder and disadvantage (Wilson et al., 2005; Furr-Holden et al., 2011; Tucker et al., 2013), and higher risk of other illicit drug use (Lynskey et al., 2003). Regular cannabis use can lead to CUDs, particularly among individuals who initiate cannabis use early and have other risk factors such as using other substances, having substance-using peers, and reporting anxiety and depressive symptoms (Hall and Degenhardt, 2007; Wittchen et al., 2007; Buckner et al., 2008), and are more prevalent among males and younger adults (Compton et al., 2004; Copeland and Swift, 2009). A longitudinal study indicated that the probability of CUD increased with the increasing presence of risk factors for CUD (Brook et al., 2011). Moreover, there is an inverse relationship between marijuana use and perceptions of its harmfulness (Compton et al., 2005).
