Cannabis use and severity of cannabis dependence among Georgian small-scale cannabis growers in 2021

Background: Nowadays, more countries including Georgia are pushing to legalize Cannabis and Cannabis growing, but there is scarce data on cannabis use and dependency among cannabis growers. This study is the very first attempt to look at the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) and risk factors of cannabis use among Cannabis growers in Georgia.
Methods: Between December 2020 - August 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional study with an online survey among Georgian cannabis growers. The sample group was self-selected and not all growers had an equal chance of being included in the sample. We asked them to anonymously report their purpose for growing Cannabis and, also to complete the SDS scale. The SDS scores < 3 were considered as “Cannabis not dependent”, and 3 or higher scores were considered as " Cannabis dependent”. We use logistic regression analysis to assess factors associated with Cannabis dependency.
Results: Out of 218 cannabis growers, 193 (88.5%) reported growing cannabis for their personal use. In the past 30 days, 132 (68%) of them reported cannabis use for recreational and 61 (32%) reported cannabis use for medical purposes. In multiple logistic regression analysis, growers who reported cannabis use for medical purposes (AOR 0.39, P-value <0.05) had lower odds of developing dependence compared to the growers who reported cannabis use for recreation. Among the growers who reported medical cannabis use, depression (65.6%; n=40), anxiety (44.3%; n=27), mood disorders (39.3%; n=24), and chronic pain (32.8%; n=20) were the most common conditions for which participants consumed cannabis. Medical users tended to consume premium herbal cannabis and oils, whilst recreational users favored premium herbal cannabis and resin. The most popular strains grown by the respondents were hybrids (67.2%; n=121) and indica (63.9%; n=115). The most frequent response to the question “Where do you grow cannabis” was growing it both indoors and outdoors (43%; n=90). 
Conclusions: Findings suggest that even though the country maintains a strict policy towards growing any type of cannabis, the majority of (illegal) cannabis growers use their products for their personal use, mostly for recreational purposes; this group had a higher odds of developing dependence to cannabis than those who use cannabis for the medical purposes.