Smoking a joint at home or after a festival: a large majority of young people in East Brabant (79 percent) consider the use of cannabis normal. Ecstasy is also very common. This is apparent from a large survey among 11,000 young people, which was presented on Thursday. “This is very worrying,” says researcher Daniëlle Ketelaars.
Drug labs or large cannabis plantations: in Brabant it is hardly a surprise. Of course, finding drug use normal is different from actually using it. Also striking: young people think that more peers use drugs than is actually the case. “That overestimation also makes young people think: everyone does it. And then they are more likely to start.”
A joint sounds harmless to young people’s ears, the researchers say. “The risks of cannabis are underestimated”, says Daniëlle, who herself works with young people for the Novadic-Kentron addiction institute. “Once they start, they will do it more and more. It causes serious motivation problems at school or work. And it causes damage to your lungs.”
In shock
4 out of 5 young people think a joint is normal. This also includes young people who use weed and hash themselves. Yet 58 percent of non-users also think it’s normal. The researchers themselves were shocked by the numbers. “We thought it was a really big group. We also see that young people often use it on their own at home, which is also worrying.”
Look in the graph to see what percentage of young people think it is normal if someone uses drugs, or look at him here in full screen:
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“Something has to be done,” says Ketelaars. That is why a campaign will be launched at the end of this year: SKIP. The goal is to make drug use less normal. It is still unclear exactly what that campaign will look like. “We are not going to point the finger and always say: don’t do it. That can actually have the opposite effect.”
These include campaigns via social media and meetings for young people or teachers. “But parents also play a major role in preventing drug use,” says the researcher.
In the last three months of last year, 11,000 East Brabant young people aged 16 to 27 took part in the study. The research was carried out by the two East Brabant GGDs and Novadic Kentron. Several hundred thousand euros in subsidies are available for the campaign.
Earlier we spoke with 16-year-old Timo, who smoked weed every day. View the report below:
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