The findings, published today in a report^² presented at the OFDT’s morning briefing on cannabis, compare the observed levels with those from the previous survey (2017). These findings are being released as Santé publique France launches “Histoires de joint,” a campaign aimed at raising consumers’ awareness of the lesser-known harms associated with cannabis use.

Cannabis: Stable Use, Evolving Smoker Profiles

Analysis of data from the Santé publique France Health Barometer, conducted jointly by the French Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) and Santé publique France, allows for the measurement of cannabis use levels among adults (ages 18–64) and for putting these into perspective over the recent period.

Stabilization of cannabis use

Experimentation: In 2020, cannabis remains by far the most commonly experimented-with illicit substance in France. Nearly half of adults (46%) have used it at least once. Between 2017 and 2020, cannabis use stabilized (45% in 2017).

The proportion of users in the past year (11%, or one in ten adults) has not changed since 2014, and the proportion of regular users (at least 10 times a month) appears to have declined slightly, from 3.6% in 2017 to 3.2% in 2020.

A marked male predominance, but with a demographic shift among users

In 2020, more than 5 out of 10 men had used cannabis at some point in their lives (55%), compared to fewer than 4 out of 10 women (38%). However, the gap in annual usage rates between men and women remains significant (15.2% for men versus 7.5% for women).

Since the first editions of the Health Barometers in 1992, trends in cannabis use among the adult population reveal a two-pronged shift: on the one hand, an increase in the proportion of women who have used cannabis; on the other hand, an average increase in the age of users over the past year, with users increasingly in their thirties and forties.

Methods of use: the predominance of herb over resin is confirmed

The last time they used cannabis, most users in the past year smoked it in the form of a joint (94%), far ahead of vaping or vaporizing (2.3%), ingesting cannabis-derived products in food or as an infusion (2.2%), or using a hookah or bong (less than 1%).

Among those who smoked a joint during their last use, 61% used weed and 37% used resin, with almost all of them mixing it with tobacco (95%). This recent predominance of weed is confirmed and fits within the context of changes in the cannabis market in France observed since 2015.

These results will be presented during the 6^th OFDT Morning Session dedicated to cannabis news, broadcast on the OFDT YouTube channel from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on December 2, 2021. During this webinar, the initial results of an online survey conducted among 2,500 cannabis users in July 2021 will be presented, providing a better understanding of the purchasing and consumption patterns of regular users.

There will also be two segments focusing on synthetic cannabinoids and youth socialization, followed by a summary of recent developments in cannabis policy and an overview by Nicolas Authier, a psychiatrist, university professor, and hospital practitioner (Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine), who is a member of the OFDT’s scientific board.