Methods

The ICPS project consists of national population-based surveys conducted annually in six countries: Canada and the United States (since 2018), Australia and New Zealand (since 2021), and the United Kingdom and Germany (since 2023). National surveys are conducted with respondents aged 16-65 using a repeat-cross sectional design, with new respondents recruited at each annual survey wave.

The ICPS project includes three notable design features that create a ‘quasi-experimental’ research design to evaluate cannabis policies: comparisons between jurisdictions with different cannabis laws, repeated measurements over time, and policy-specific measures. Together, these features provide a robust research design for examining within- and between-countries over time.

ICPS Surveys

The ICPS Surveys were developed over a multi-year period based on focus groups, cognitive interviewing, and consultation with international experts. ICPS Surveys are revised each year to capture novel trends and policies, and are adapted for each country in which they are administered. ICPS surveys include several core modules, with a unique level of detail on patterns of consumption for both traditional and emergent product forms. ICPS surveys also include ‘policy-specific’ measures that map on to five core policy domains in legal markets: retail policies, advertising and promotion, product standards, personal use and cultivation, and price/taxation.

To date, ICPS surveys have been conducted with more than 300,000 respondents, including more than 90,000 respondents who consumed cannabis in the past 12-months.

Technical Reports

Technical Reports are available for each annual survey wave. The reports provide detail on the ICPS methods, including recruitment, survey content, and sample characteristics. The Technical Reports are available for download by clicking on the link below.