60% OF MAORI HAVE SMOKED CANNABIS - STUDY

Whangarei: Sixty percent of Maori have smoked cannabis at some time in their
lives, a recently released study says.

The Ministry of Health funded study, Te Ao Taru Kino - Drug Use Among
Maori, 1998, sampled 1593 Maori aged between 15 and 45 and explored
patterns and levels of drug use along with perceptions toward various
issues related to drug use.

Fear of the law was hardly a factor in reasons offered for stopping or
limiting cannabis use but was a major reason for people not getting
help to reduce cannabis consumption, the study found.

Co-author Helen Moewaka- Barnes, of Ngati Wai and Ngati Hine descent,
said the study was one of the first of its kind to use such a large
sample and would likely be followed by others in the future.

"I am particularly interested in looking at things over time and it
will be interesting if there is a law change to see how things
change," she said.

While 60% of those surveyed said they had used cannabis at some time
in their lives, just 26% had used it in the last 12 months and 18%
regarded themselves as current users.

Of those who had never used cannabis, three-quarters either did not
like it, couldn't get it, or were concerned about the health risks.

Fear of being caught was noted by 11% of people as a reason for not
using the drug.

Among those who had reduced or stopped their cannabis use in the last
year, fear of being caught was hardly a factor at all in their
decision. Not liking the drug was five times more likely to put people
off.

Fear of being caught was, however, the major reason (35%) stopping
people getting help to address their cannabis use. Most though (82%)
felt they needed no help at all.

Of those who had used cannabis in the last year, more than half were
happy with the amount they smoked, and 69% said they had not
experienced any specific problems with cannabis use.

Again, more than half said cannabis had no effect on their financial,
social, home, work or health situation.

When the study looked at cannabis supply, the report came up with the
surprising finding that of those who had used cannabis in the last
year, nearly 90% had received either all or some of it for nothing.