Good cannabis referendum site

University of Otago researchers have put together a very good website on the cannabis referendum. It doesn’t tell you how to vote but presents data from the gold class Dunedin and Christchurch longitudinal studies.

Some of their findings:

• 80% of adults have tried cannabis at least once
• When they were young adults, around 50% had used in the last year
• Cannabis use starts to decline in early 30s
• Around 4% to 10% of population are diagnosed as cannabis dependent
• There is a relationship between cannabis use and other drug use, with it being strong if people start regular cannabis before age 17
• Cannabis use elevates the chance of psychotic symptoms, but the size of the risk relation is small
• A loss of 8 IQ points was found amongst study members who began using cannabis in adolescence and continued until age 38
• Overall the major risk is with those who begin using in adolescence or are dependent
• The illegal status of cannabis does not prevent some people from using
• Arrests and convictions do not lead to a reduction in use

To me this reinforces that a health based approach is the best way to reduce harm from cannabis use.