Germany ready to legalize it: Europeans increasingly addicted to cannabis

3.9% of Europeans aged 15-64 have used cannabis at least once in the past month, according to a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet. The data used by the researchers was collected from 2010 to 2019. Thus, between these two dates, they were able to observe a 27% increase in the prevalence of majiruana consumption among adults in Europe, from 3.1 % to 3.9%. Prevalence is the ratio between the number of people affected by a health problem in relation to the total number of a population during a given period, without distinguishing between new cases and old ones.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, a hallucinogenic active ingredient

Cannabis contains an active hallucinogenic ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It is found in three forms: dried grass, resin and oil. The first two are smoked while the third is more generally consumed with a pipe. Its effects include a phase of euphoria, then ecstatic and finally sleep. To estimate the ratio of Europeans to this substance, the researchers relied on four types of data: the prevalence of consumption, the prevalence of disorders related to this consumption, medical treatment and the potency of the THC present in these products. The scientists mainly collected this information from two organizations: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The countries studied were the 27 Member States of the European Union, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway and Turkey.

Increase in new treatments related to cannabis addiction

In thirteen of the twenty-six countries studied by the researchers, more than 20% of users – who had used cannabis at least once in the previous month – reported high-risk patterns of use. These may include cognitive impairment, a higher risk of developing psychosis, respiratory problems, or higher certain cancers. Road accidents related to taking majiruana were also counted. On the care side, scientists estimate that the rate of consumers who have started medical follow-up for cannabis dependence has increased from 27 to more than 35 per 100,000 adults since 2015. In 2019, for example, more than 115,000 new treatments have been reported in 25 European countries. Finally, the last lesson of this study: the potency of the tetrahydrocannabinol contained in cannabis has increased in recent years.

Two cannabis legalization projects in Europe

In the European Union, there are different cannabis laws. In twelve Member States, consumption is not prohibited, but possession of majiruana is punishable. But some countries stand out like Luxembourg or Germany. Indeed, for several months, the Luxembourg government has been planning to legalize recreational cannabis. More recently, this same proposal was also included in the coalition contract of the three parties that will govern Germany next December, when Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government will step down. “We are introducing the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for recreational use in licensed stores, which helps control quality, prevent the distribution of contaminated substances and protect public health, explain the authors of the contract which was presented this Wednesday, November 24 in Berlin. If one of these two projects is completed, Germany or Luxembourg would then become the first European state to completely lift the prohibition of cannabis.

In France, cannabis is considered a narcotic, making its consumption condemnable. Yet theEMCDDA estimates that there are five million users with at least one intake in the year, including 1.5 million who use regularly.