Formal and Informal Control of Cannabis: Regular Users' Experience

ABSTRACTBackground: The debate on recreational use of cannabis, recently relaunched by the election of the Liberal Party of Canada that intends to legalize and regulate its use and access, implies a better understanding of social control mechanisms that are in place, and their influence on users' behaviors. Objective: This study addresses the issue of formal and informal controls by providing, first, a theoretical perspective of this concept, and, second, by illustrating its operation from the users' perspective. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 164 regular, adult cannabis users recruited in four large Canadian cities (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax). An initial qualitative analysis based on the principles of grounded theory was conducted. The main categories identified were then used to find and re-code relevant material on the respondents' experience with formal and informal control (secondary analysis). Results: The users' perspective shows that mechanisms of informal ...