Overview of the cannabis use in Europe Paul Griffiths, Reitox academy, Berlin, 29th March 2007

Overview of this presentation… Supply side data Europe in the global context Types cannabis product Epidemiological data on cannabis use survey data patterns and trends Intensive use & problems Concluding remarks Information needs

EMCDDA EMCDDA decentralised technical agency of the European Community Monitoring and analysing the EU drug phenomenon since 1995: Role is to collect, analyse and disseminate objective, reliable and comparable information on drugs and drug addiction and their consequences Provide an evidence based picture of the drug phenomenom at European level

Reitox Network Allow - Annual reporting -Expert working groups -Objective, reliable & comparable data 30 European Countries SI LU

Cannabis market in Europe Europe main global resin consumer Morocco produces around 80% world’s supply of cannabis resin Mainly imported via Iberian peninsular Herbal picture more complicated More source countries ( Albania, Asia, Africa, E.Europe, Caribbean) Increasing domestic production with in E.U. boarders

Supply side data Resin Around 300,000 seizures Nearly 100 metric tons Spain accounting for 75% of volume 50% Number of seizures Upward trend since 2000 may be levelling off Herbal Compared to resin - Only about half as many seizures Less 10% volume seized Number seizures increasing but in terms of quantities the picture is less clear Complicated by… Plants seized Domestic production

Is it getting stronger? Data poor and drawing conclusion difficult No clear trends in resin or imported herbal cannabis Some high potency products have always been available Evidence that typical potency of intensively produced cannabis relatively high This product may be becoming more popular ´´The evidence suggests that the average potency of cannabis has increase but not to the extent often claimed. Changes in patterns of cannabis use, with earlier age of first use and more regular use of more potent forms of cannabis have probably been more important in increasing average dose of THC than any increase in the THC content of cannabis plants´´ Hall et al 2001.

Global Overview Annual Prevalence Estimates: (162 million or 3.9% of all adults) Source UNODC, World Drug Report 2007

Prevalence - European estimates 70 million people used once 23 million used last year (7% of all adults) 13.4 million last month (4 % of all adults) 3 million daily users (1% of all adults)

Last year use of Cannabis: Young adults (15-34 )

Trends Still considerable inter-country variation, but: we now see a more homogenous picture among high middle ranking countries often same patterns but differences in scale and timing Most countries reported an increase in use in the 1990s Situation appears to becoming more stable although trend still upwards in some countries

Lifetime prevalence of cannabis use among 15/16 year old school students in 1995,1999 and 2003 (ESPAD) Percent

Trends in last year prevalence: young adults (aged 15-34)

Patterns of use Most use remains episodic and concentrated among the young Worries that the number of those using the drug intensively may be increasing Levels of regular and intensive use among young males in particular may be high Demands for treatment are increasing although data difficult to interpret

Age of First Use (18 Year Old Sample)

Patterns of cannabis use by age (lifetime and last month prevalence – source Dutch National Survey 2001)

Proportion of cannabis using adults (15-64 ) reporting daily or almost daily use

Frequency of Cannabis Use at Age 18 Source ESCAPAD 2001, OFDT, France

Distribution of new clients demanding treatment in 2004 by primary drug in 18 countries (15 EU + BG, RO, TK)

Trend (%) in new treatment clients using heroin, cocaine, cannabis, other stimulants in 19 EU countries (17 EU + BG, RO) from 1999 to 2004

EMCDDA activities on cannabis Selected Issue on Cannabis Treatment Demand (2004) Insight on Cannabis potency (2004) On-going work to improve measurements of intensive cannabis use (2005) Thematic paper on legislative approaches, focusing on cannabis (2005) Technical data-sheet analysing trends in cannabis use in the Eastern European Countries (forthcoming 2006) Working group on scales of problematic cannabis use in GPS (ongoing) Report on how to improve measurement of intensive, problematic and dependence in survey data (2007) EMQ module on drug availability Production of the cannabis drug profile (on line end of march 2007) Selected issue of drugs and driving focussing on cannabis and benzodiazepines (launch AR 2007) Cannabis Scientific Monograph (forthcoming 2007)

Information needs Better monitor patterns of intensive and regular use Better monitor the cannabis market and the relative availability of different cannabis products Better understand the needs and profiles of cannabis users being seen by drug treatment services in Europe Better understand the extent to which cannabis users not in contact with services are experiencing problems A monitoring system does not provide answers to most of these questions: it raises questions, which can be answered with more focused research projects