Panel Paper:
The Impacts of Potency, Warning Messages, and Price on Preferences for Cannabis Products
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Aims. To estimate the impacts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), warning messages, and price on adults’ preferences for cannabis products.
Design. An online discrete choice experiment was implemented in the US in October 2017. Each respondent was randomly assigned to 12 choice scenarios, each asking them to choose 1 out of 3 cannabis products with varying levels in the 4 attributes. The probability of choosing cannabis products was analyzed using nested logit regressions.
Participants. An online sample of 2,400 adults aged 21 years or older, consisting of 1,200 past-year cannabis nonusers and 1,200 past-year cannabis users. State of residence was restricted to 6 states (California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) that had legalized recreational cannabis by 2017.
Measures. Hypothetical purchase choices of cannabis products.
Results. Among both cannabis users and nonusers, relative to CBD free, low CBD level (0.4% CBD) increased the probability of choosing cannabis products by 24-28% (p<.001) and high CBD level (15% CBD) increased the probability by 120% (p<.001); higher price was associated with lower probability of choosing cannabis products (p<.001). Higher THC level increased the probability among users (p<.001) but had no impact on nonusers. Compared to no warning message, text warning message increased the probability of choosing cannabis products by 8% among users (p<.05) and the FDA not-approved disclaimer reduced the probability by 12% among nonusers (p<.001). Subgroup analyses among users by reason of use suggested that, those using cannabis primarily for medical reason were the only subgroup unresponsive to THC but were most responsive to CBD.
Conclusion. For adults living in states with recreational cannabis legalization, taxes that raise price and warning messages that emphasize no approval from the FDA have potential to deter cannabis initiation or resumption, and THC limits and taxes have potential to reduce recreational cannabis purchase among users.
Presenter: Yuyan Shi, PhD
9500 Gilman Drive, MC0607, La Jolla, CA 92093-0607, USA
Phone number: 1(858)534-4273
Email address: yus001@ucsd.edu
