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Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern

The lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 may affect (illicit) drug consumption patterns. This rapid response study investigated changes in cannabis use in a non-probability sample of cannabis users in the Netherlands during the early lockdown period. We fielded an online cr...

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Autores principales: van Laar, Margriet W., Oomen, Pieter E., van Miltenburg, Charlotte J. A., Vercoulen, Eefje, Freeman, Tom P., Hall, Wayne D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7779403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33408655
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601653
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author van Laar, Margriet W.
Oomen, Pieter E.
van Miltenburg, Charlotte J. A.
Vercoulen, Eefje
Freeman, Tom P.
Hall, Wayne D.
author_facet van Laar, Margriet W.
Oomen, Pieter E.
van Miltenburg, Charlotte J. A.
Vercoulen, Eefje
Freeman, Tom P.
Hall, Wayne D.
author_sort van Laar, Margriet W.
collection PubMed
description The lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 may affect (illicit) drug consumption patterns. This rapid response study investigated changes in cannabis use in a non-probability sample of cannabis users in the Netherlands during the early lockdown period. We fielded an online cross-sectional survey 4–6 weeks after implementation of lockdown measures in the Netherlands on March 15, 2020. We measured self-reported \motives for changes in use, and assessed cannabis use frequency (use days), number of joints per typical use day, and route of administration in the periods before and after lockdown implementation. 1,563 cannabis users were recruited. Mean age was 32.7 ± 12.0 years; 66.3% were male and 67.9% used cannabis (almost) daily. In total, 41.3% of all respondents indicated that they had increased their cannabis use since the lockdown measures, 49.4% used as often as before, 6.6% used less often, and 2.8% stopped (temporarily). One-third of those who were not daily users before the lockdown became (almost) daily users. Before the lockdown, most respondents (91.4%) used cannabis in a joint mixed with tobacco and 87.6% still did so. Among users of joints, 39.4% reported an increase in the average number consumed per use day; 54.2% stayed the same and 6.4% used fewer joints. This rapid response study found evidence that during the lockdown more users increased rather than decreased cannabis consumption according to both frequency and quantity. These data highlight the need to invest more resources in supporting cessation, harm reduction, and monitoring longer term trends in cannabis use.
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spelling pubmed-77794032021-01-05 Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern van Laar, Margriet W. Oomen, Pieter E. van Miltenburg, Charlotte J. A. Vercoulen, Eefje Freeman, Tom P. Hall, Wayne D. Front Psychiatry Psychiatry The lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 may affect (illicit) drug consumption patterns. This rapid response study investigated changes in cannabis use in a non-probability sample of cannabis users in the Netherlands during the early lockdown period. We fielded an online cross-sectional survey 4–6 weeks after implementation of lockdown measures in the Netherlands on March 15, 2020. We measured self-reported \motives for changes in use, and assessed cannabis use frequency (use days), number of joints per typical use day, and route of administration in the periods before and after lockdown implementation. 1,563 cannabis users were recruited. Mean age was 32.7 ± 12.0 years; 66.3% were male and 67.9% used cannabis (almost) daily. In total, 41.3% of all respondents indicated that they had increased their cannabis use since the lockdown measures, 49.4% used as often as before, 6.6% used less often, and 2.8% stopped (temporarily). One-third of those who were not daily users before the lockdown became (almost) daily users. Before the lockdown, most respondents (91.4%) used cannabis in a joint mixed with tobacco and 87.6% still did so. Among users of joints, 39.4% reported an increase in the average number consumed per use day; 54.2% stayed the same and 6.4% used fewer joints. This rapid response study found evidence that during the lockdown more users increased rather than decreased cannabis consumption according to both frequency and quantity. These data highlight the need to invest more resources in supporting cessation, harm reduction, and monitoring longer term trends in cannabis use. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-12-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7779403/ /pubmed/33408655 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601653 Text en Copyright © 2020 van Laar, Oomen, van Miltenburg, Vercoulen, Freeman and Hall. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
van Laar, Margriet W.
Oomen, Pieter E.
van Miltenburg, Charlotte J. A.
Vercoulen, Eefje
Freeman, Tom P.
Hall, Wayne D.
Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern
title Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern
title_full Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern
title_fullStr Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern
title_full_unstemmed Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern
title_short Cannabis and COVID-19: Reasons for Concern
title_sort cannabis and covid-19: reasons for concern
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7779403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33408655
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601653
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