Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2005, 149(2):477-480 | DOI: 10.5507/bp.2005.084

Use of marijuana in pharmacy students (2000-2005)

Alena Kavalírová, Peter Višňovský

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

In 2000-2005, a survey on the consumption of legal and illegal drugs of abuse was conducted in 1571 students of Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague. The availability of cannabis and the prevalence rates of its use in university students were investigated. A standardized anonymous questionnaire was employed for the survey. The average age of respondents was 20 years. The number of females was higher (82.8 %) than that of males. Marijuana was the most available and the most commonly used illegal drug of abuse in the group of pharmacy students. Its offer and the life-time prevalence increased over the 5 year period of the survey from 55.8 % to 72.9 % and from 30.3 % to 48.4 %, respectively. There was a predominance of the male users over the female ones, mainly in a category of high frequency of marijuana consumption ("used more than five times"). Almost three quarters of marijuana consumers admitted more than one experience with marijuana. Our data provide worrying statistics and support the need of continuous education also in university students to advise them on the risks of drug misuse.

Keywords: Marijuana, Cannabis, Drug abuse

Received: June 10, 2005; Accepted: September 25, 2005; Published: December 1, 2005  Show citation