Get high down under, study says
Danny Rose, Medical Writer | 17th October 2009
AUSTRALIANS rank among the world's top cannabis users, a review of global data has confirmed.
It is estimated more than eight per cent of the population uses marijuana at least once a year, and this rate is only matched by North America and our trans-Tasman neighbours.
"Australia, New Zealand and North America have traditionally been the countries which have among the highest rates (of cannabis use)," said Professor Louisa Degenhardt of the University of NSW.
"That has been something demonstrated repeatedly in surveys of young people and surveys of the general population."
Europe was next in terms of annual usage followed by the Middle East and Asia, while usage rates were rising across Africa but from a low base in some countries.
This is according to a major review of the global pool of research into marijuana consumption, conducted by the University of NSW's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) in collaboration with the University of Queensland.
The paper, published in The Lancet, includes a UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimate that cannabis was used by 166 million people, or 3.9 per cent of the global population aged 15 to 64 years, during 2006.
Prof Degenhardt said a different study in 2007 found 9.1 per cent of Australians aged 14 to 65 reported using cannabis in the past year - one of the highest usage rates in the world.
There was some good and bad news, she also said, as an assessment of survey data over the years showed a gradual decline in the number of Australians who reported using cannabis at least once a year.
Prof Degenhardt said there was no evidence of a corresponding decline in heavy marijuana users - those Australians who were using it weekly or daily.
"Even though we've got that decline in `occasional' users we're either seeing a stable trend or an increase in data that reflects problems related to cannabis use - so things like hospital admissions and the number of people arrested while they had cannabis on them," Prof Degenhardt said.
"It really does suggest that we need to be thinking about how we can address problematic and heavy use because we know that group is not decreasing in size in Australia."
The paper states one in 10 users have "cannabis dependence syndrome" placing them at risk of chronic bronchitis, psychotic symptoms especially in those with a family history of mental disorders, and also poorer education outcomes in affected youth.
Other possibly linked health effects include respiratory cancer, depression, suicide or behavioural disorders in children whose mothers used cannabis while pregnant.
A person's heart attack risk increases almost five times during the hour after they used cannabis, another study shows.
Despite this, the paper concludes the health burden imposed by cannabis use on Australia was "probably modest" compared to the illness and injury caused by alcohol, tobacco and other illicit drugs.
"Cannabis use caused 0.2 per cent of total disease burden in Australia - a country with one of the highest reported rates of cannabis use," the paper said.
Alcohol accounted for 2.3 per cent of the nation's disease burden while tobacco came in at 7.8 per cent.
Northern Star
Danny Rose, Medical Writer | 17th October 2009
AUSTRALIANS rank among the world's top cannabis users, a review of global data has confirmed.
It is estimated more than eight per cent of the population uses marijuana at least once a year, and this rate is only matched by North America and our trans-Tasman neighbours.
"Australia, New Zealand and North America have traditionally been the countries which have among the highest rates (of cannabis use)," said Professor Louisa Degenhardt of the University of NSW.
"That has been something demonstrated repeatedly in surveys of young people and surveys of the general population."
Europe was next in terms of annual usage followed by the Middle East and Asia, while usage rates were rising across Africa but from a low base in some countries.
This is according to a major review of the global pool of research into marijuana consumption, conducted by the University of NSW's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) in collaboration with the University of Queensland.
The paper, published in The Lancet, includes a UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimate that cannabis was used by 166 million people, or 3.9 per cent of the global population aged 15 to 64 years, during 2006.
Prof Degenhardt said a different study in 2007 found 9.1 per cent of Australians aged 14 to 65 reported using cannabis in the past year - one of the highest usage rates in the world.
There was some good and bad news, she also said, as an assessment of survey data over the years showed a gradual decline in the number of Australians who reported using cannabis at least once a year.
Prof Degenhardt said there was no evidence of a corresponding decline in heavy marijuana users - those Australians who were using it weekly or daily.
"Even though we've got that decline in `occasional' users we're either seeing a stable trend or an increase in data that reflects problems related to cannabis use - so things like hospital admissions and the number of people arrested while they had cannabis on them," Prof Degenhardt said.
"It really does suggest that we need to be thinking about how we can address problematic and heavy use because we know that group is not decreasing in size in Australia."
The paper states one in 10 users have "cannabis dependence syndrome" placing them at risk of chronic bronchitis, psychotic symptoms especially in those with a family history of mental disorders, and also poorer education outcomes in affected youth.
Other possibly linked health effects include respiratory cancer, depression, suicide or behavioural disorders in children whose mothers used cannabis while pregnant.
A person's heart attack risk increases almost five times during the hour after they used cannabis, another study shows.
Despite this, the paper concludes the health burden imposed by cannabis use on Australia was "probably modest" compared to the illness and injury caused by alcohol, tobacco and other illicit drugs.
"Cannabis use caused 0.2 per cent of total disease burden in Australia - a country with one of the highest reported rates of cannabis use," the paper said.
Alcohol accounted for 2.3 per cent of the nation's disease burden while tobacco came in at 7.8 per cent.
Northern Star
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
