A growing body of data and knowledge from overseas studies could inform Australia’s recreational cannabis laws, says a UNSW Sydney expert in drug policy research.
Teenagers who smoke cannabis at least once a week are less likely to finish school, enrol in university or obtain a degree, according to UNSW research that challenges notions the drug is less harmful than alcohol.
Teenagers who use cannabis daily before the age of 17 are 60% less likely to complete high school and seven times more likely to attempt suicide than those who haven't used the drug, UNSW research shows.
Almost two-thirds of parents are foggy on the facts around cannabis use and its effects, despite believing they hold the primary responsibility for the drug education of their children, according to a new survey.
Drivers for legalising cannabis are more likely to be political and based on public opinion, rather than econimic arguments, write Marian Shanahan and Alison Ritter.
The first systematic analysis of the potency of Australian cannabis has found high levels of the main psychoactive component of the drug in samples confiscated by police.
