Frequent cannabis users occasionally health problems associated with their use

Frequent cannabis users report problems with episodic heavy drinking as addiction problems, memory or lack of energy, according to a study of French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) published in the Epidemiological Bulletin Weekly (BEH)

High consumption despite the adverse

Pierre-Yves Bello (OFDT) and his co-authors interviewed 1,567 frequent users, the vast majority of men (72%), 11 sites (Bordeaux, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, Guyana, Martinique) from May to July 2004. Most questionnaires were completed in the city (87%), the remaining 13% in specialized care centers for drug addicts (CSST).

The study does not claim to be representative of the French population of frequent users, focused on users 15 to 29 years, frequent use is defined by a consumption of at least 20 seals in the 30 days or for at least 10 days in the last 30 days.

In the sample, 78% use cannabis from May to July days a week, 56% from February to April smoking joints a day on weekdays and 73% more joints a day weekend 5.

"The problems reported related to cannabis use are common but usually episodic," say the authors.

Over the last twelve months, 21% of respondents said they often considered difficult due to go a day without eating, 15% experiencing memory problems and 13% feel a lack of energy.

About 5% of respondents reported trying to reduce or stop their consumption to no avail.

Adverse effects (bad trip, anxiety attack, hallucinations) were often experienced by 3% of people and from time to time by 16%.

However, 88% of respondents have a low score of problematic use (defined by criteria 9) (45%) or intermediate (43%), while 11% scored high and 1% a very high score. The greatest difficulty users are men met in CSST, young (15-19 years), unemployment, low education level, with an early onset of cannabis use and other illicit goods.

The authors note that the high frequency of driving under influence of cannabis (71%) raises the question of the level of user knowledge on the physical and legal risks.

For people seen outside a CSST, a request for assistance on cannabis is infrequent, 11% is sent to the near 15% and a professional.

The authors note that it will determine if further consultations cannabis in the Plan illicit drugs-alcohol-tobacco 2004-2008, will reach the population of cannabis users in trouble.

8 to 11% of THC in cannabis sold in France

The BEH also publishes the results of a survey OFDT (Pierre-Yves Bello et al) on the composition and characteristics of cannabis collected from users in four French sites (Bordeaux, Dijon, Lille, Martinique).

Of the 241 samples collected (41% of home users, 38% in the street, at parties 7%), the average THC content of 8.8% in the resin and 10.7% in the grass . These results, which do not claim to representativeness, are slightly higher than the European average (between 7.7% and 8.2% according to a study by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction 1998-2002).

The amount of THC in available comp appears very uncertain, since it varies from 1 to 24 for the resin (1.1 to 26.1%) and 1 to 79 grass (from 0.3% to 23.8%). The average rates are higher in the Lille region, which could be explained by the proximity of the Netherlands, a country in which the rates are on average 16%.

The authors noticing any other psychoactive substance has been found in the samples, while the acute adverse effects are often attributed to the presence of cutting products.

They concluded that these results demonstrate the feasibility of a larger study.

(BEH No. 20/2005, 17 May 2005, "The frequent cannabis users, descriptive elements, France 2004" p89-91 "Composition and characteristics of cannabis users in collected from four sites in France 2004" p91-92 )