Cannabis use among youth in the Netherlands

A nation-wide survey of cannabis use, based on a representative sample of 1,306 young people in the 15-to-24 age group, carried out in the Netherlands in 1983, showed that cannabis had been used or tried by 12.2 per cent of the respondents (13 per cent males and 11 per cent females). These results, compared with the results of a study carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics in 1979 and 1980, showed an increase in cannabis use. In the three largest cities, the percentage of cannabis users (25 per cent) was double that of the country as a whole. The percentage of cannabis use was higher among the older age groups of respondents; the study also showed that the lower the age at first cannabis use the higher the risk of continuing and becoming involved with more dangerous drugs such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines. The rates of alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking and the use of heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, sleeping pills and tranquillizers were significantly higher among cannabis users than among respondents who were not using cannabis. The rate of cannabis use was significantly higher among the unemployed respondents than among those who had a job. The authors suggest that these findings should be taken into account in designing preventive measures and other forms of intervention programmes to deal with cannabis-related problems among young people.