Fewer and fewer young people and more and more adults over the age of 35 use cannabis in France. This is what emerges from the Health Barometer published this Monday, December 19 by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT), which looked at the period 2017-2021. France remains one of the European countries where this drug is most used, but the level of consumption is stable.
Nearly half of French people have already consumed cannabis once in their life. In 2021, one in 10 adults has smoked it. Overall, the consumption of this drug is stable and marked by aging.
The average age of the user thus rose from just over 25 to almost 33 between 1992 and 2021. Among those under 25, cannabis is less successful. Experimentation, but also regular use, is down, perhaps because young people smoke fewer cigarettes, and these two uses are linked.
Men more concerned
People over 35 consume more cannabis. Proof that finding a job and raising a family does not necessarily mean giving up the joints. These joints would no longer be smoked at parties, but at dinner or in the evening before going to sleep.
The other lesson of this study is that cannabis users are above all men, and they live mainly in the south of France. Finally, overseas, there are fewer users than in mainland France, but they consume more cannabis.
►Also listen: Accents d’Europe – Legalization of cannabis: the debate in Europe