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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Finland: Use of cannabis increases among young Finns
HELSINGIN SANOMAT Wednesday 25 Aug 2010 Use was most common in the Helsinki region, where one in four pupils in upper secondary school and one in three attending vocational school said that they had tried marijuana or hashish. Figures were lowest in North Karelia. In Helsinki the cannabis trend started to become more visible more than a year ago. Police have been contacted from a number of schools where there were rumours circulating about the use of drugs - primarily cannabis, but also pharmaceutical drugs and MDPV, says Jonna Saavalainen of the drug unit of the Helsinki Police Department. Most of the contacts have come from the upper levels of comprehensive school and vocational schools, but one tipoff came from the lower grades. "The assumption is that there is a problem in every school, because the problem is so extensive", Saavalainen notes. A number of rings have been uncovered in Finland in recent years, in which young people have grown, distributed, and used cannabis. Some of those involved have been as young as 13. Police say that home-growing has increased considerably, although in Helsinki it is often easier for kids to buy their cannabis. "Perhaps using cannabis is somewhat fashionable", says Sirpa Härkälä, director of the Helsinki youth station run by the A Clinic Foundation. She says that many young people justify their use of cannabis by saying that it causes them no harm. However, some have also had negative experiences. Cannabis is considered more risky for young people than for adults. The survey showed that nearly half of pupils in the upper grades of comprehensive school and over half of those in upper secondary and vocational school know someone who has used intoxicants. Attitudes have also become more relaxed. Occasional use of marijuana and hashish is considered acceptable by 18 per cent of upper comprehensive school pupils, and one in three pupils attending upper secondary and vocational school. Sirpa Härkälä believes that the Internet has something to do with the attitudes, saying that it is a place where "the wrong kind of information" is available. Responding to the school health questionnaire were 103,000 young people in the south and east of Finland and Finnish Lapland. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Use+of+cannabis+increases+among+young+Finns/1135259606387
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