TY - JOUR
T1 - Cannabis and COVID-19
T2 - Reasons for Concern
AU - van Laar, Margriet W.
AU - Oomen, Pieter E.
AU - van Miltenburg, Charlotte J.A.
AU - Vercoulen, Eefje
AU - Freeman, Tom P.
AU - Hall, Wayne D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare, and Sport. The sponsor had no role in the study design, data collection, interpretation of the data, writing of the article or the decision to submit it for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 van Laar, Oomen, van Miltenburg, Vercoulen, Freeman and Hall.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12/21
Y1 - 2020/12/21
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - cannabis
KW - corona
KW - COVID-19
KW - risks
KW - route of administration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098770888&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601653
DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601653
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85098770888
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry
SN - 1664-0640
M1 - 601653
ER -