Cannabis use highest  among lower educated people

Around 1 in 20 people in the Netherlands used cannabis in 2007.  Men are more likely to use cannabis than women. The use of cannabis is especially high among men in their twenties.

Cannabis use highest among young people

Last year, 30 percent of men and 18 percent of women aged between 15 and 65 years said they had ever smoked cannabis. Just over 7 percent of men and 2 percent of women had done this in the 30 days preceding the survey. For men the percentage of recent cannabis users was highest in the age group 20 to 30 years and for women in the age range 15 to 30 years.

Percentage of cannabis users in the 30 days preceding the survey, 2007

Cannabis use nearly twice as high among lower educated groups

People with primary school as highest level of completed education are significantly more likely to use cannabis than people with higher professional or university education. For men it can be said that the higher the education level, the less likely they are to use cannabis.

For women the correlation between education level and cannabis use is less clear. But here, too, women with only primary education were nearly twice as likely to use cannabis in 2007 as women with a higher education level.

Percentage of cannabis users in the 30 days preceding the survey, by education level, 2007

More cannabis users in cities

Cannabis use is considerably higher in large cities than in more rural areas. In 2007 the use in very densely populated areas was five times as high among men as in the countryside. Women living in cities were four times as likely to use cannabis as those in more rural areas.

Percentage of cannabis users in the 30 days preceding the survey, by degree of urbanisation, 2007

Kim Knoops