Is France still Europe's biggest cannabis consumer?

A recent, wide-ranging survey of 26,500 Europeans sought to uncover the consumption of cannabis of the Old Continent. The operation, entitled «Eurobaromètre» (Eurobarometer), challenges certain preconceived ideas. According to Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, the continent's biggest consumers are the Irish.

In France, it is customary to say that we are «Europe's champion cannabis consumer».». According to Eurostat, we rank 15th out of 28 countries. According to the figures collected, around 7 % of the French people over 15 have consumed cannabis in the last twelve months. This percentage is strictly equal to the average for the 28 countries surveyed.

At the top of the ranking, the leading trio are the Irish (17 % consumers), Luxembourgers (16 %) and Latvians (14 %). The countries consuming the least cannabis are Cyprus (2 %), Malta (2 %), and Greece (1 %), at the bottom of the ranking.

France «European champion» in another category

L’Eurostat study also looks at cannabis consumption patterns. The vast majority of Europeans smoke cannabis with tobacco. Latvians are a little different: 11 % of consumers use food or drink to consume cannabis. Not surprising in a where hemp butter is one of the national dishes.

The survey also looks at the sociological profile of cannabis users. More men (9 %) than women (6 %) have smoked cannabis in the last twelve months. The figures also show that students, the unemployed (14 %) and the self-employed (12 %) are more likely to roll a joint than other socio-professional categories.

The Eurostat survey takes a different approach to the annual reports of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). This European Union agency, which monitors drug use on the continent, focuses each year on drug use among 15-34 year-olds. These include in this category that France is «European champion».», with 22% of 15-34 year-olds having used cannabis in the last 12 months. But also on a lifetime scale: 44.8 of French people experiment with cannabis, followed by Denmark (38.4%), Spain (35.2%) and Italy (32.7%).