French study links youth cannabis use and unemployment

A young French person who smokes cannabis before the age of 16 is twice as likely to be unemployed at least once in his or her career, compared with a young person who does not. They are even three times more likely to be unemployed several times than someone who has never smoked cannabis.

This is the conclusion of a French study, published by epidemiologist Maria Melchior, Director of Research at the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), one of the world's leading health research institutes.

«We started out with a hypothesis: cannabis use in adolescence can have an impact on a person's career path. We know that young people are vulnerable on a cerebral level up to the age of 25, and that cannabis has an effect on memory and concentration, so we wanted to verify this.», explains Maria Melchior to Newsweed.

To arrive at this result, the scientist dipped into the TEMPO database, a file essentially made up of former EDF-GDF employees and their children. Her team sent them a questionnaire, often by post, and they volunteered to answer it. This went on for over nine years. In all, 1,500 people took part.

The scientist divided them into three groups: those who had never used cannabis (548 people), those who had tried it before the age of 16 (332 people), and those who had tried it after the age of 16 (607 people). «Compared to those who have never used cannabis, the odds of being unemployed several times are particularly high among those who used cannabis before age 16 (3x higher risk) and those after age 16 (2x higher risk).», notes the study.

Emotional expression workshops« to steer young people away from cannabis

Is there a direct link between cannabis and unemployment? Do EDF-GDF employees, who are mainly blue-collar workers, represent France? As we know, it's easier to become unemployed when you come from a modest background. What's more, those who start smoking before the age of 16 aren't always cut out for the school system, so they may have trouble finding a job afterwards.

«There are many factors that explain why some people start smoking before the age of 16. These factors have been identified and corrected. In addition, the‘he study is not representative of the French population, nor is it intended to be., Maria Melchior. But we believe that the links between cannabis use and unemployment are also valid in other populations.»

The research director assures us that she has no intention «guilt-tripping and stigmatization» cannabis consumers, but rather to inform them about the dangers. Several studies point out the danger of cannabis among young people, This is particularly true because the brain is in full development until the age of 25.

The epidemiologist therefore calls on public authorities to try to delay cannabis consumption as long as possible. But forget the prevention campaigns that are directly aimed at demonizing the drug they are ineffective. «What works best to steer young people away from cannabis are workshops to learn how to express emotions, build self-esteem, communicate non-violently, manage relationships within the group.»