Risk Assessment of Cannabis Use by Cannabis Abuse Screening Test among Medical Students

Abstract

Objective: To assess the risk of cannabis use among medical students of MBBS; identify the 
frequency regarding cannabis use among medical students and categorize those students according to 
Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST). 
Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Shalamar Medical and Dental College over a 
period of one month. A total of 207 MBBS students were selected through simple random 
sampling after obtaining informed consent. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and 
the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25.0. 
Chi-square test was applied to assess associations between study variables. 
Results: The study results reveal that 51.7% (107) participants were female and 48.3% (100). 24.6% 
(51) participants belong to extended family type while 75.4% (156) were from nuclear family. 
Additionally, 57% (118) were day scholars while 43% (89) were residing in hostel. 9.7% were 
married and 90.3% were single. 
Conclusion: Frequency of smoking cannabis is significantly high in age slab 21-24 years especially 
males who were single and whose parents have monthly income between PKR 10000 to 50000, with 
pocket money less than 20,000 per month.