Substance Use by Canadian Youth - A National Survey of Canadians' Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs - Canadian Addiction Survey (CAS)

Errata - Cannabis Use and Harms

The CAS included a brief six-item screener to measure problematic drug use. The screener, the ASSIST, was developed by the World Health Organization.

An error was recently found in one symptom (represented by two items: CNAS5 and ASSIS5) of the ASSIST scale. Properly stated, the question is "Have you ever tried [AND FAILED] to control, cut down or stop using cannabis, marijuana or hashish {or other drugs}". The phrase "and failed" was not asked of respondents. This error, in turn, affects the following derived variables: ASISTCAN, ASISTCN3, ASISTCN2, ASISTIL and ASISTIL3.

Note: A small study to assess the impact of the missing "and failed" phrase suggested that estimates with the missing phrase underestimate the standard ASSIST item, but total scores and their cutoffs do not differ significantly between the two versions. This error should not affect estimates of subgroup differences (i.e., sex, age and regional differences). Caution and warning should be used in making direct comparisons with other studies using the ASSIST.

Page	For	Should read
P.40, column 2, line 19	"...(5) whether they ever tried and failed to control, cut down, or stop using cannabis."	"...(5) whether they ever tried to control, cut down, or stop using cannabis."
P.44, column 1, line 28	"...and "failed control over their use" (54.0%), almost one tenth..."	"...and "attempts to cut down their use" (54.0%), almost one tenth..."
P.44, column 1, line 39	"..."failed control" (34.5% versus 54.0%)."	"..."attempts to cut down" (34.5% versus 54.0%)."
P.44, column 1, line 39	"Other than "failed control", there were..."	"Other than "attempts to cut down", there were..."
P.44, column 1, line 43	"...to report having had "failed control" over their cannabis use (61.7% versus 47.1%)."	"...to report having had "attempts to cut down" their cannabis use (61.7% versus 47.1%)."
P.44, column 2, line 7	"...or "failed control" (24.8% versus 38.2%)."	"...or "attempts to cut down" (24.8% versus 38.2%)."
P.53, Table 4.8, column 7	"Failed control"	"Attempts to cut down"