New campaign targeting teen cannabis use

"Being a teenager is hard enough, without being stoned too."

With Irish teenagers twice as likely to try cannabis as their European counterparts, the Health Promotion Unit, as part of the National Drugs Awareness Campaign, has launched a nationwide radio and poster campaign on the theme: “Being a teenager is hard enough, without being stoned too”. The campaign will also raise awareness amongst parents of the widespread availability of the drug throughout the country. 

According to the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) 2003, the lifetime use of cannabis by Irish teenagers is twice as common as the average for all European countries, at 39% versus 21%.

While many teenagers perceive cannabis as a “safe”, ‘organic' or ‘natural' substance, it contains more than 400 chemicals and, in Ireland, has increased in potency in recent years.

Cannabis, despite the myth that it is harmless, can have physiological effects.  Smoking cannabis has been shown to affect short term memory, concentration and motor skills in young people. Due to the high levels of tar that are laid down when smoking ‘joints', cannabis use increases the risk of respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis, throat and lung cancer.

Inexperienced users, or people using a stronger type of cannabis than they are used to, can experience paranoia, anxiety, panic or confusion, while some may experience delusions or hallucinations. It can also trigger schizophrenia and psychotic illness in vulnerable young people – particularly where there is a family history of mental illness or depression.

The National Drugs Awareness Campaign has put in place a number of information resources to help people educate themselves about  drugs and substance use in Ireland. Help and support for individuals whose lives may be affected by substance use is available from a number of campaign resources:

• Campaign Helpline 1850 719 819.
• Information leaflets which are available by calling the helpline or local health promotion department.
• Campaign website www.drugsinfo.ie

Check out the campaign posters and cannabis information microsite at http://www.drugsinfo.ie/cannabis.htm.

Discuss this campaign and cannabis use on the boards!