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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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New Zealand: Widespread Use Of Cannabis Shown
ccguide Tuesday 18 Dec 2001 Pubdate: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 Source: Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) Copyright: Allied Press Limited, 2001 Contact: Website: http://www2.odt.co.nz Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/925 Author: John Gibb Note: This article also appeared in The Dominion 15 December and the Evening Post 17 December. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) WIDESPREAD USE OF CANNABIS SHOWN A University of Otago study raises doubts about the law on cannabis use and highlights the need for more resources to help a minority of dependent users. The research was based on interviews with about 1000 young New Zealanders. They are participants in a long-term study involving the university's Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit. The study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday, showed about 50 percent of young people had used cannabis at least once in the 12 months before their 21st and 26th birthdays. Research showed at least 75 percent of young New Zealanders had used cannabis at least once by age 26. "Recognition of the widespread nature of use should have implications for social policy, as prohibition fails to dissuade many people from using cannabis in their teens and 20s," the study said. Dr Richie Poulton, the study's lead author and research unit director, said in an interview the law "doesn't seem to reflect what's going on in society". "Conservatively, three-quarters of young people have tried cannabis. "All those people by definition have been at risk of a criminal conviction," he said. Although the study showed that occasional cannabis use did not have any serious adverse effect, such convictions could damage employment prospects and restrict overseas travel, he said. The minority of casual cannabis users who went on to develop dependence were the "most problematic" group. The size of this heavy use group, about 20 percent of users (about 10 percent of the overall population) and its "constellation of accompanying problems" were "sufficient to warrant immediate and serious concern". Many dependent users experienced adverse physical and psychological outcomes. Among the dependent group, 75 percent reported using harder drugs than cannabis in the past year, and 66 percent reported selling drugs in that period. Resources were needed to provide effective prevention and treatment programmes, Dr Poulton said. The study also showed more people in their mid-20s were using cannabis than an earlier study had suggested. The earlier study, based on United States figures, suggested cannabis use peaked in the late teens and early 20s and declined quite rapidly thereafter. More research by the Dunedin unit was needed, including to determine the extent of cannabis use at a later age, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager
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