Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Dutch have low rate of marijuana use

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 6, 2009 at 12:55 AM

BRUSSELS, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The Netherlands, a country famous for its marijuana coffee shops, has one of the lowest rates of marijuana use in Europe, a report says.

Only 5.4 percent of Dutch adults reported using the drug, below the European average of 6.8 percent, the EUobserver reported. The highest rate was in Italy at 14.6 percent, double the percentage of a decade ago.

Spain, the Czech Republic and France also had high rates of marijuana use, while Bulgaria, Greece, Malta and Romania were low.

The European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction also reported that "spice," a mix of legal plant products, is becoming increasingly available. Some users say smoking the mixture, often marketed as incense, produces an effect similar to cannabis.

France, Germany, Luxembourg and Poland have classified some of the ingredients of spice as narcotics, and Austria has banned the sale of combinations of plant mixtures and synthetic drugs.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional in California
AARP Movies for Grownups Award Gala The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Snowy Owls make appearance in Washington
Additional World News Stories
1 of 15
Rose McGowan at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2012 Collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week In New York
View Caption
fark
If you think doing your taxes by yourself is confusing, try getting them done at a tax business...
Photoshop this night on the town
Rhinoceros accidentally killed by conservationists during anti-poaching demo
Researchers develop way to scan liquids that may allow travelers to carry on enough vodka to relieve...
If you ever drop your weed by the side of the road let it go, because man, it's gone, and the cops...
DUDE, the guy in full police uniform probably isn't in on the robbery