Public health monitoring of cannabis use in Europe: prevalence of use, cannabis potency, and treatment rates.
paper
Cited
Public
- Authors
- Manthey, Jakob; Freeman, Tom P; Kilian, Carolin; LΓ³pez-Pelayo, Hugo; Rehm, JΓΌrgen
- Year
- 2021
- Journal
- The Lancet regional health. Europe
- PMID
- 34806072
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100227
- PMCID
- PMC8589728
BACKGROUND: Cannabis is one of the most widely used substances worldwide. Heavy use is associated with an increased risk of cannabis use disorders, psychotic disorders, acute cognitive impairment, traffic injuries, respiratory problems, worse pregnancy outcomes, and there are indications for genotoxic and epigenotoxic adverse effects. International regulation of medical and non-medical cannabis use is changing rapidly and substantially, highlighting the importance of robust public health monitoring. This study aimed to describe the trends of key public health indicators in European Union (27 member states + UK, Norway and Turkey) for the period 2010 to 2019, their public health implications, and to identify the steps required to improve current practice in monitoring of cannabis use and harm in Europe. METHODS: Data on four key cannabis indicators (prevalence of use, prevalence of cannabis use disorder [CUD], treatment rates, and potency of cannabis products) in Europe were extracted from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the Global Burden of Disease study. For prevalence of use and CUD, the first and last available estimate in each country were compared. For treatment rates and cannabis potency, linear regression models were conducted. FINDINGS: Between 2010 and 2019, past-month prevalence of cannabis use increased by 27% in European adults (from 3Β·1 to 3Β·9%), with most pronounced relative increases observed among 35-64 year-olds. In 13 out of 26 countries, over 20% of all past-month users reported high-risk use patterns. The rate of treatment entry for cannabis problems per 100,000 adults increased from 27Β·0 (95% CI: 17Β·2 to 36Β·8) to 35Β·1 (95% CI: 23Β·6 to 46Β·7) and has mostly plateaued since 2015. Modest increases in potency were found in herbal cannabis (from 6Β·9% to 10Β·6% THC) while median THC values tripled in cannabis resin (from 7Β·6% to 24Β·1% THC). INTERPRETATION: In the past decade, cannabis use, treatment rates and potency levels have increased in Europe highlighting major concerns about the public health impact of cannabis use. Continued monitoring and efforts to improve data quality and reporting, including indicators of high-risk use and cannabis-attributable harm, will be necessary to evaluate the health impact of international changes in cannabis regulation. FUNDING: This study received no specific funding.
Past-month prevalence of cannabis use in Europe, based on most recently available survey estimates.
Percentage point change in past-month prevalence of cannabis use between earliest and most recent survey estimate (since 2010), by country. Countries with only one data point (Austria, Estonia, Greece, Malta) and without age-specific data (Luxembourg) are not displayed. The empty bar for 15 to 24 year-olds in Sweden indicates no change in prevalence of use.
Share of (almost) daily cannabis user among past-month cannabis users, for the most recent year with available data.
Change in treatment admissions per 100,000 adults between 2010 and 2019 for all countries with available data and their average. Green color indicates countries with declining trend, red color indicates countries with increasing trend. Arrows are only presented for countries with a change in treatment rates of at least 3 admissions per 100,000 adults.
Boxplots of median THC levels reported annually by 25 countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey), by cannabis type. Each box indicates the interquartile range and the horizontal bar represents the median of all reported values in that year.
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|---|---|---|
| 60 | Data sharing statement | All data analysed for this publication were obtained from publicly available sources and can be⦠|
| 61 | Data sharing statement | Editor note: The Lancet Group takes a neutral position with respect to territorial claims in⦠|
| 62 | Declaration of interest | H.L.P. works under the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya and receives funding from the⦠|
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