Legislative Norms to Control Cannabis Use in the Light of Its Prevalence in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary

Čecho, Róbert; Baška, Tibor; Svihrova, Viera; Hudečková, Henrieta

doi:10.21101/cejph.a5019

Cited by 19 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…A third and final challenge is that outcome-based research has tended to focus on one main indicator: the prevalence of drug use. There are a number of reports providing comparisons in drug use prevalence between jurisdictions that have or have not 'decriminalized' drugs or 'liberalized' drug policy (Cecho et al, 2017;Hughes et al, 2018;Kotlaja and Carson, 2018;Maloff, 1981;Rogeberg and Stevens, 2016;Simons-Morton et al, 2010;Stevens, 2016Stevens, , 2019Vuolo, 2013). Although these studies concur that liberalization of drug use is not associated with large increases in drug consumption, there has been less focus on other outcomes and the ways in which specific mechanisms and contexts combine to produce positive or negative results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depenalization, diversion and decriminalization: A realist review and programme theory of alternatives to criminalization for simple drug possession

Stevens

Hughes

Hulme

et al. 2019

European Journal of Criminology

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Alternatives to criminalization for the simple possession of illicit drugs are increasingly of interest to policy makers. But there is no existing theoretically based, empirically tested framework that can inform development and evaluation. This article presents a realist programme theory of such alternatives. It bases this on a realist review, which followed the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards (RAMESES). It describes the systematic process of searching the literature in English on nine relevant countries (Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Jamaica, Netherland, Portugal, the UK, the USA) for information on alternative measures in three categories: depenalization; diversion; and decriminalization. It shows how these measures – in theory and in practice – combine with pre-existing social conditions and institutional contexts to trigger mechanisms across three causal pathways (normative; criminal justice; and health and social services). It shows how some posited causal processes are more empirically supported than others. Alternative measures can reduce harms imposed by criminal justice processes without increasing drug use or related health and crime harms, but this depends on specific combinations of contexts, mechanisms and outcomes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depenalization, diversion and decriminalization: A realist review and programme theory of alternatives to criminalization for simple drug possession

Stevens

Hughes

Hulme

et al. 2019

European Journal of Criminology

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“…Previous research on the impact of cannabis legislation on prevalence of cannabis use among adolescents and young adults in Europe [ 23 , 26 ], but also elsewhere [ 19 , 27 – 30 ] is inconclusive. This knowledge gap may be explained by methodological obstacles, including difficulties in obtaining representative, population-based, samples and differential underreporting of drug use in surveys because of stigma [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in cannabis policy and prevalence of recreational cannabis use among adolescents and young adults in Europe—An interrupted time-series analysis

et al. 2022

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Background Cannabis policy varies greatly across European countries, but evidence of how such policy impacts on recreational cannabis use among young people is conflicting. This study aimed to clarify this association by investigating how changes in cannabis legislation influenced cannabis use. Methods Available data on self-reports of recreational cannabis use among individuals aged 15–34 years was retrieved from EMCDDA. Information on cannabis policy changes was categorized as more lenient (decriminalisation or depenalisation) or stricter (criminalisation, penalisation). Countries that had implemented changes in cannabis legislation or had information on prevalence of use for at least eight calendar years, were eligible for inclusion. We used interrupted time-series linear models to investigate changes in country-specific trajectories of prevalence over calendar time and in relation to policy changes. Results Data from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom, for 1994–2017 was available for analyses. Cannabis use varied considerably over the study period and between countries. On average, use was stable or weakly increasing in countries where legislation was not changed or changed at the extremes of the study period (+0.08 percent per year [95% CI -0.01, 0.17 percent]). In contrast, the pooled average use decreased after changes in legislation, regardless of whether it had become more lenient (-0.22 [-1.21, 0.77]) or stricter (-0.44 [-0.91, 0.03]). Conclusions Our findings do not support any considerable impact of cannabis legislation on the prevalence of recreational cannabis use among youth and young adults in Europe.

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“…In France 24% of the ninth grade pupils [4], 40.5% of the 15-to 16-year-old boys and girls in United Kingdom [5], 36% of boys and 38% of girls of the adolescents in Czech Republic, 28% of boys and 25% of girls of the adolescents in Slovakia, and 28% of boys and 20% of girls of the adolescents in Poland [6] consumed cannabis. The most common way of administration is smoking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different Effects of Cannabis Abuse on Adolescent and Adult Brain

Dhein

2020

Pharmacology

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Cannabis abuse is a common phenomenon among adolescents. The dominant psychoactive substance in Cannabis sativa is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, in the past 40 years the content of the psychoactive ingredient THC in most of the preparations is not constant but has increased due to other breeding and culturing conditions. THC acts as the endocannabinoids at CB1 and CB2 receptors but pharmacologically can be described as a partial (not a pure) agonist. Recent evidence shows that activation of the CB1 receptor by THC can diminish the production of neuronal growth factor in neurons and affect other signalling cascades involved in synapsis formation. Since these factors play an important role in the brain development and in the neuronal conversion processes during puberty, it seems reasonable that THC can affect the adolescent brain in another manner than the adult brain. Accordingly, in adolescent cannabis users structural changes were observed with loss of grey matter in certain brain areas. Moreover, recent studies show different effects of THC on adolescent and adult brains and on behaviour. These studies indicate that early THC abuse can result in neuropsychological deficits. This review gives an overview over the present knowledge in this field.

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Legislative Norms to Control Cannabis Use in the Light of Its Prevalence in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

Depenalization, diversion and decriminalization: A realist review and programme theory of alternatives to criminalization for simple drug possession

Depenalization, diversion and decriminalization: A realist review and programme theory of alternatives to criminalization for simple drug possession

Changes in cannabis policy and prevalence of recreational cannabis use among adolescents and young adults in Europe—An interrupted time-series analysis

Different Effects of Cannabis Abuse on Adolescent and Adult Brain

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