National estimates of drug use in the Netherlands available, for the first time

Cannabis use lower than official estimate

The Centre for Drugs research (CEDRO) of the University of Amsterdam published the first results of the first national survey on drug use in the Netherlands. These figures enable researchers and policy analysts to compare drug use in the Netherlands with similar figures from other countries. The use of marihuana (ever use) is estimated to be 15.6% of the Dutch population of 12 years and older. Recent use (last 30 days) of marihuana is estimated to be 2.5%, or around 323,000 persons nationwide. This estimate is considerably lower than the estimate of 675,000 persons, used by the Dutch Government. This figure is very close to CEDRO's april 1998 estimate of 300,000 persons, based on a survey in the two cities Utrecht and Tilburg.

The survey is held among the Dutch population of 12 years and older. A representative random sample of 22,000 persons was surveyed in 1997 and early 1998. The drugs survey was designed in co-operation with Statistics Netherlands and funded by the Dutch Government (Department of Health, Welfare and Sports).

In the United States of America data from national drug use surveys are available since the seventies. The table that compares drug use in the population in the Netherlands with drug use in the U.S. shows, that a repressive policy as in the U.S., does not necessarily result in less drug use. The availability of drugs is no determining factor for levels of drug use in a country.