Facts & Figures
• Cannabis is a depressant drug. Depressant drugs do not necessarily make the person feel depressed. Rather, they affect the central nervous system by slowing down the messages going to and from the brain to the body. Cannabis can also have mild hallucinogenic effects. (p.1)

• There are three main forms of cannabis: marijuana, hashish and hash oil. (p.1)

• A non-potent form of cannabis (Indian hemp) is used to produce fibres for use in paper, textiles and clothing. (p.1)

• THC (Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) is the chemical in marijuana that makes you feel 'high'. This means you experience a change in mood and may see or feel things in a different way. Some parts of the plant contain a higher level of THC. For example, the flowers, or 'heads', have more THC than the stems and leaves. (p.1)

• Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Australia (p.1)

• One in every three Australians have used cannabis at some time in their lives and 13 per cent have used cannabis in the previous 12 months. (p.1)

• Of those who have used cannabis at some stage in their lives, the mean initiation age was 18.5. (p.1)

• There is little evidence to support the notion that cannabis use leads to the use of other drugs. While it is true that most heroin users have also used cannabis (and alcohol and tobacco), it is worth noting that most people who use cannabis do not progress to using heroin, amphetamines or any other illegal drug. (p.1)

• When people are affected by cannabis they are said to be 'stoned', 'bent' or 'high'. Traces of THC can remain detectable in urine samples for days, even weeks, after use. (p.2)

• With regular use, people can develop a mild tolerance to cannabis. This means they need to take more and more to get the same effect. Dependence on a drug can be psychological, physical or both. (p.2)

• 33% of the Australian population reported using cannabis at some time, with 18% having used it in the last 12 months. (p.6)

• 34% of 14-19 year olds reported ever using cannabis. (p.6)

• Young people attending high school across Australia have high rates of cannabis use with 32% of 12-17 year old males and 29% of females ever reporting use; 53% of 17 year old males reported ever using cannabis; 50% of 17 year old females reported ever using cannabis; 11% of 12 year old males reported ever using cannabis; and 7% of 12 year old females reported ever using cannabis. (p.6)

• Cannabis is also known as marijuana, grass, pot, dope, Mary Jane, hooch, weed, hash, joints, brew, reefers, cones, smoke, mull, buddha, ganga, hydro, yarndi, heads and green. (p.6)

• Australians are now among the world's largest users of marijuana, spending more than $7 billion a year on the drug. The per capita expenditure on marijuana is $400 a year, double that on wine. (p.7)

• Australians aged 20-29 years are more likely than those in the other age groups to have used marijuana/cannabis at some time in their lives. Almost three in five (58.9%) people aged 20-29 years had used marijuana/cannabis in their lifetime. (p.8)

• Across all age groups, males were more likely than females to have ever used marijuana/cannabis. (p.8)

• There were over two million Australians aged 14 years or older who had recently used marijuana/cannabis. (p.8)

• Almost one-quarter of teenagers had used marijuana/cannabis in the last 12 months. More male teenagers (221,100) than female teenagers (179,500) were recent marijuana/cannabis users. (p.8)

• New research has concluded that cannabis use predisposes towards later depression. Young women are twice as likely as non-users to suffer depression or anxiety if they had smoked cannabis weekly, and eight times as likely if they had used it every day. For young men the trend is similar, though less pronounced. (p.20)

• People who were depressed or anxious when 14 or 15 were not more likely than others to be heavy cannabis users by their early 20s — meaning the link could not be explained in terms of 'self-medication' of unhappiness. (p.20)

• Dependence (addiction) to a drug can be psychological or physical or both. A person can become both physically and psychologically dependent on cannabis. (p.23)

• Cannabis and cannabinoids are useful to relieve symptoms of illnesses, but do not cure the underlying disease. Many of the uses of cannabis for medical purposes revolve around its ability to reduce pain and nausea, stimulate appetite and perhaps reduce muscle spasms. (p.25)

• Cannabis or cannabinoids may be useful for some persons with the following conditions: HIV-related and cancer-related wasting; pain unrelieved by usual pain relief treatments; neurological disorders including multiple sclerosis, Tourette's syndrome, and motor neurone disease; and nausea and vomiting in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, which does not respond to the usual treatments for this problem. (p.25)

• Smoked cannabis is unlikely ever to be prescribed in Australia because a smoked plant product will not satisfy the requirements for registration as a 'therapeutic good'. Registration is required if cannabis is to be medically prescribed. This means that any prescribed cannabis products will need to be pharmaceutical drugs derived from THC or other cannabinoids. No such drugs are currently registered in Australia. (p.26)

• Support for the legalisation of personal use of marijuana/cannabis in 2001 (29.1%) was similar to that in 1998 (29.6%). Males (31.3%) were more likely than females (27.0%) to support legalisation. (p.39)