Cannabis Use and Drug Related Problems Among Adolescents in 27 European Countries: The Utility of the Prevention Paradox

• Main Authors: Romelsjö Anders, Danielsson Anna-Karin, Wennberg Peter, Hibell Björn
• Format: Article
• Language: Danish
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2014-10-01
• Series: Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
• Subjects: drugs; drug-related problems; youth; prevention; ESPAD; drug policy
• Online Access: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/nsad.2014.31.issue-4/nsad-2014-0028/nsad-2014-0028.xml?format=INT

AIMS – To study the prevalence of cannabis use and drug-related problems among European adolescents and the utility of the prevention paradox. METHODS – Survey data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) in 2007 in the 27 countries with information about drug use and drug-related problems was used. We analysed the proportion of all drug-related problems that occurred in a high risk group and among others who had used cannabis in the previous 12 months. The cut-off for the high risk group was chosen to include 10-15 % of the most frequent cannabis users. RESULTS – The high risk groups accounted for a substantial, but a minority, of drug-related problems among boys as well as girls. A minority of those who had used cannabis reported any drug-related problem. The proportion of adolescents with drug-related problems and the average number of problems increased with frequency of cannabis use. CONCLUSIONS – We find support for policy measures of more general character, supported by the prevention paradox. However, this does not exclude a policy supporting frequent drug users if they can be identified