{"id":16431,"date":"2023-03-28T19:16:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T19:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=16431"},"modified":"2023-05-16T19:46:02","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:46:02","slug":"marijuana-users-report-high-rates-of-dependence-in-global-drug-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2023\/03\/marijuana-users-report-high-rates-of-dependence-in-global-drug-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana Users Report High Rates Of Dependence In Global Drug Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legalization advocates and the weed industry can support necessary reforms while being honest about the risks of marijuana use, the study’s author says.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A large percentage of marijuana users around the world report signs of dependence, even as cannabis appears to be one of the safest and most commonly used drugs overall, according to the results of a survey released on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The findings are contained in the\u00a02018 Global Drug Survey<\/a>, a detailed questionnaire that compiled responses from more than 130,00 people in over 40 countries in the past year. One section of the survey used the \u201cSeverity of Dependence Scale<\/a>,\u201d or SDS, a popular tool that asks respondents five questions regarding impaired control over drug use and anxieties related to consumption and quitting.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Around 50,000 of the survey respondents reported having used marijuana in the last 12 months. Only alcohol and tobacco use were more common.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Of all cannabis users, 20.2 percent showed substantial signs of dependence, measured by affirmative answers to at least four of the five SDS questions. Crystal methamphetamine was the drug most closely associated with dependence, with nearly 25 percent of users scoring four or higher on the SDS.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A positive SDS score is not the same as a clinical diagnosis of dependence, Adam Winstock, a British addiction psychiatrist and founder of the Global Drug Survey, told HuffPost. But it does suggest that many marijuana users have considerable misgivings about their habits.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019ve got 20 percent of the people who are significantly worried about the impact of their use on their life,\u201d said Winstock. \u201cIt\u2019s a measure of subjective worry and concern, but those questions tap into things like how much you use, how often, your sense of control and your desire to stop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The responses to individual SDS questions offer a window into some of those feelings of dependence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cannabis was the substance most frequently associated with anxiety over the prospect of quitting, for example. Although nearly 74 percent of users said the idea of stopping \u201cnever or almost never\u201d made them anxious, 19.7 percent said it \u201csometimes\u201d did, with the rest reporting that it \u201coften\u201d or \u201calways\u201d did.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A total of 21.4 percent of marijuana users said it would be \u201cquite difficult\u201d for them to stop using, with 6.4 percent responding that it would be either \u201cvery difficult\u201d or \u201cimpossible.\u201d Around 72 percent said quitting would not be difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nearly 30 percent of cannabis users reported that their cannabis use was at least occasionally \u201cout of control,\u201d with 22.6 percent of respondents saying it was only \u201csometimes\u201d an issue, 5.3 percent saying it was \u201coften\u201d an issue and 1.6 percent saying it was \u201calways or nearly always\u201d an issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The survey also sought to measure the overall safety of substances by asking respondents if they\u2019d sought emergency medical treatment after using various drugs. Just 0.5 percent of all cannabis users reported seeking treatment after use, the second-lowest rate of any substance. Magic mushrooms appeared to be the safest recreational drug for the\u00a0second year in a row<\/a>, with just 0.2 percent of users saying they\u2019d pursued medical intervention.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The cannabis dependence results were particularly surprising to Winstock, who said he would\u2019ve expected to see around 10 to 15 percent of marijuana users report signs of dependence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re legalizing a drug that a fair number of people who use it have worries about themselves,\u201d Winstock said. \u201cThe question is what do you do about that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Global Drug Survey may hold some answers. Since 2014, the independent research company has\u00a0partnered with medical experts<\/a>\u00a0and media groups to conduct an annual survey with the goal of making drug use safer through increased access to education and treatment resources.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Around 300,000 marijuana users have partaken in Global Drug Surveys over the years, said Winstock. Those respondents have consistently shown high levels of support for establishing government guidelines around safe marijuana use. Among cannabis users who have expressed a desire to use less frequently or quit entirely, many have said they\u2019d like assistance in doing so. But very few end up seeking help.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Taken together, the surveys suggest elected officials and the marijuana industry should be engaging in a more honest discussion about the risks associated with cannabis use so they can better address issues that may arise as laws are liberalized, said Winstock.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That advice may be particularly salient in the U.S., where a number of states are considering legalizing recreational marijuana in the face of growing public opposition to prohibition. Eight states, as well as Washington, D.C., have already legalized weed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cClearly arresting someone and giving them a criminal record for smoking a joint is a futile and pointless exercise and … nothing I\u2019m suggesting is me saying cannabis is a bad drug and the government made a mistake,\u201d said Winstock.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat I\u2019m saying is that at the point they regulated cannabis, they should have mandated a whole bunch of things that allowed it to be easier for people to reflect on their cannabis use and how it impacted on them and how to control their use,\u201d he went on. \u201cThere should have been mandated health warnings and advice and an index of harm for different products.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Among the 3,400 U.S. marijuana users surveyed this year, just under 25 percent expressed a desire to use less \u2015 compared to 29.3 percent of users globally. Just over 25 percent reported getting high more than 300 days out of the past year, though that may not be reflective of broader marijuana trends, because the survey didn\u2019t randomly sample users nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sixteen percent of the American marijuana users who said they wanted to cut back also responded that they\u2019d like help doing so. Nearly 50 percent of all U.S. users said they\u2019d attempted to quit at some point, with 67 percent of those saying they\u2019d tried in the previous year.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Winstock says it makes sense to increase access to harm reduction tools in order to reach those who say they want help with their dependence on cannabis. But broad support for this sort of comprehensive approach requires people on all sides to confront the fact that marijuana, like pretty much any drug, can lead to dependence with some frequency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, the legalization debate has played out in a far more polarized fashion, with advocates often pushing back against decades of government anti-weed hysteria by claiming cannabis is a harmless drug, especially when compared to alcohol or tobacco.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In light of the cataclysmic failures of the nation\u2019s war on drugs, there is plenty of reason to be tempted by that portrayal.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt could just be that so many people are saying we\u2019ve raised billions in taxes, saved thousands of hours of police time, saved loads of innocent young lives from having their careers ruined and being banged up in prison,\u201d said Winstock. \u201cThose are such huge wins that I could see people going, \u2018That\u2019s enough.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But just because the status quo has been so bad for so long and marijuana is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco \u2015 legal drugs that kill more people each year than all illicit drugs combined \u2015 doesn\u2019t mean the push to legalize cannabis can\u2019t learn from past mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For Winstock, it\u2019s not too late for legal weed states and leaders in the marijuana industry to place more focus on public health.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cStop for a moment and think about how you cannot become the tobacco industry or the alcohol industry,\u201d said Winstock. \u201cBe the best you can be, don\u2019t just make the biggest profit. Be the most responsible industry you can, and that means be honest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source: Marijuana Users Report High Rates Of Dependence In Global Drug Survey | HuffPost UK Health (huffingtonpost.co.uk)<\/a> May 2018<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legalization advocates and the weed industry can support necessary reforms while being honest about the risks of marijuana use, the study’s author says. A large percentage of marijuana users around the world report signs of dependence, even as cannabis appears to be one of the safest and most commonly used drugs overall, according to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,63,30,68,90,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-brain-and-behaviour","category-cannabis-marijuana","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-global-drug-legalisation-efforts","category-methamphetamine-ghb-hallucinogens-oxycodone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}