Here’s the ‘cannabis bomb’, filled with Thc

Published on: 09/22/2020 5:17 PM

It’s not just ‘grass’ anymore. Today in the EU, underlines the 2020 report of the EMCDDA, the EU agency that deals with drug addiction, it has become “increasingly easy” to obtain products with a high content of Thc, tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive principle of hemp. On average, the Thc content of marijuana in circulation today is “double” compared to that measured in 2008.

Cannabis, explains the EMCDDA, now plays an “important” role in drug treatment pathways, but the relationship between drug-related problems and developments in the drug market is still not well understood.

Meanwhile, the cannabis market is changing: the presence of products high in Thc (tetrahydrocannabinol) is claimed and, compared to just ten years ago, it is becoming easier to obtain new forms of cannabis, as well as commercial products based on plant extracts. Furthermore, cannabis resin and cannabis leaves and buds have a “double” Thc content on average compared to ten years ago.

All these data suggest that “more intense” surveillance in this sector is “urgent”. These issues and others, such as the availability of low-Thc products, marketed for their high Cbd content (cannabidiol, another active ingredient in hemp that has no narcotic effects), will be examined in an upcoming issue of the series. of the EMCDDA reports.

The analysis carried out by Emcdda highlights “an increase in the potency of both cannabis in leaves and inflorescences and cannabis resin since 2008. The most recent data suggests that the THC content of resin sold in Europe is now twice the average than that of cannabis in leaves and inflorescences.

Of the countries that have conducted surveys since 2017 and reported confidence intervals, eight reported higher estimates for cannabis use among young adults (15-34 years) than the previous year, three reported stable data and one estimate lower than the previous year. previous comparable survey. In eight of these countries, the most recent survey found greater use among 15-24 year olds.

Based on surveys of the general population, it is estimated that in the European Union, daily or almost daily cannabis users, that is, who have consumed this drug for 20 or more days in the last month, are around 1% of Adults. , made up mostly (around 60%) of people under 35 years of age and around three-quarters of men.

In 2018, around 135,000 people in Europe entered specialized treatment for problems related to cannabis use (32% of all treatment requests); of them, around 80 thousand have done it for the first time. In the 24 EU countries with data, the total number of first-time users seen for cannabis-related problems increased by 64% between 2006 and 2018.

Fifteen countries reported an increase between 2006 and 2018 and 14 reported an increase in the last year (2017-2018). Overall, 50% of subjects entering treatment for the first time in 2018 for primary cannabis use reported daily use of the drug in the past month.