Family and friends main providers of cannabis to users, survey finds

The number of people who have used cannabis at some stage in their lifetime has increased from 17.4 per cent in 2003 to 21 per cent last year, while men are almost twice as likely as women to have used cannabis, according to the All Ireland Drugs Prevalence Survey .

This is the second such survey commissioned by the NACD, but it is the first to ask people whether the cannabis they used was homegrown. Just over 16 per cent of users said their cannabis was grown in Ireland.

However, far more older people sourced Irish cannabis, with 43 per cent of those aged 35-65 saying their cannabis was grown in Ireland compared with 10.8 per cent of 15-34 year olds.

Close to 90 per cent of recent users sourced cannabis from family and friends, with the majority having been given the drug rather than buying it. Some 44.3 per cent said they were given cannabis by family or a friend, 28.3 per cent said it was shared out among friends, while 14.6 per cent said a friend sold it to them.

Fewer than 10 per cent said they bought cannabis from a stranger or a contact they had not known.

The report found that while cannabis use had increased, people were also more aware of its risks. The number of people, cannabis smokers and non-users, who perceived there to be a "great risk" from cannabis rose from 25 per
cent in 2003 to 30 per cent in 2007. Just under 20 per cent of regular users who had given up said they had done so for health reasons.

Cannabis use was most prevalent among the young and among men, the report found. Some 28.6 per cent of 15-34-year-olds said they had used cannabis at some stage in their lifetime, compared to 16.1 per cent of 35-64 year olds.

The number of men who had used cannabis at some stage was 27 per cent, compared with 16.6 per cent of women. The number of regular male users was 3.9 per cent compared to 1.1 per cent of women.

Usage varied nationally, but was more prevalent on the east coast. The greatest increases in usage were in the north of Northern Ireland where lifetime usage jumped from 22.8 per cent in 2003 to 33.8 per cent in 2007.

Source: Olivia Kelly, The Irish Times, 10/12/2008