In the Public Health Authority’s latest public health survey, 2.6 percent of respondents stated that they had used cannabis at some point in the past twelve months. Among young people (16–29 years old), the percentage was 7.3 percent.
The curve points gently upwards, but compared to the rest of Europe, self-reported cannabis use is low. Probably too low, according to one new study of cannabis use among young adults from researchers at the Karolinska Institutet.
The starting point for the study is the assumption that the practice is underestimated in measurements based on self-reporting – especially in countries like Sweden where the practice is illegal.
Indirect method
To get around that problem, the researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Solna have used an indirect survey method to ensure that the answers cannot be linked to an individual respondent.
Two parallel surveys were conducted in 2021 with participants between 18 and 29 years of age. One was designed as a traditional questionnaire, the other using the indirect method.
In the first mentioned, 1,200 people participated, of which 57 percent were women. In the second, almost 3,000 people participated, of which 54 percent were women.
According to the researchers, the results show a two to three times higher self-reported cannabis use with the indirect method.
Big differences
In the indirect survey, 43 percent of respondents stated that they had used cannabis at some point, compared to 27 percent in the traditional survey.
The percentage who used cannabis in the past year was 19 compared to 10 percent, and the percentage who used cannabis in the past month was 13 compared to 4 percent.
“We conclude that cannabis use among young adults in Sweden is greatly underestimated in traditional surveys,” the researchers write in conclusion.