MaintenanceEasy to find, at a fair price and of good quality: weed enjoys a positive image with many French teenagers, notes Ivana Obradovic, of the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies, in an interview with ” World “.
Ivana Obradovic, Deputy Director of the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT), is the author of Cannabis (La Découverte, 128 pages, 10 euros). It indicates in particular that, in France, “from a statistical point of view, the subject most likely to use cannabis is a male, young, living in the city” and “Regular cannabis use appears to be a marker of economic precariousness among adults as well as among adolescents”.
Several studies and indicators show that cannabis consumption is higher in France than anywhere else in Europe. How is this situation explained?
The experimentation indicator (those who have tried at least once in their life) is very high in France: 44.8% in 2017 for adults aged 18 to 64. But the most relevant indicator for taking account of consumption practices is the one that measures recent use, at least once in the previous month. At 16, there are 13% of users of this type in France, twice as many as the European average. We are talking about a population of consumers with relatively frequent use, with regular supply practices and consumption habits. However, France is one of the countries where consumption by miners has fallen the most in the last twenty years. We were very high twenty years ago, but other countries have caught up with us, especially Italy, according to the Espad survey, which studies the health behaviors, lifestyle and consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs among 16-year-old schoolchildren.
What could be the reasons for this high consumption in France?
One of the main explanatory factors is the accessibility of the product. Despite one of the toughest laws in Europe, it’s quite easy to get cannabis in France. Our survey shows that at 16 nearly 40% of French teenagers know how to find it fairly easily, that’s 5 points more than the European average. The second thing is the price, relatively low, as well as the good “quality/price ratio”: the ratio between the price and the THC level means that you spend less in France to experience the effects of intoxication. Finally, in France, the health risks associated with cannabis are considered to be quite low and the image of grass is particularly valued among new generations, which goes hand in hand with a stigmatization of tobacco, perceived as very harmful. Similarly, with home deliveries that have become common (36% of purchases among adult daily users), some may think that it is not so dangerous and not so serious if it circulates so easily.
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