WHAT'S THE DOPE?

Half the students at the Republic's largest university now admit to cannabis
use, and the drug seems to have achieved broad acceptance as a harmless mood
alterative, but it may not be as benign as we think, writes Kathryn Holmquist

The reputation of the Republic's youth as enthusiastic cannabis-smokers
continues with the revelation that 50 per cent of students at University
College Dublin have used cannabis, according to the preliminary results of
an unpublished study. Cynics - not to mention anyone who has been to
university - might say that the other 50 per cent are lying. The scent of
burning weed and resin, sold in deals from pounds 10 upwards, will infuse
campus life this autumn as surely as the shops will keep selling Rizla papers.

"As far as I can see, cannabis is widely used in society in general and
college is a reflection of that broader picture," says Dr Cian Denihan, the
psychiatrist who conducted the study as part of his work with Student Health
Services at UCD. Interestingly, he also found that men and women at UCD have
used cannabis in equal numbers.

Almost one-third have used ecstasy or acid in addition to cannabis. Dr
Denihan's findings reflect the results of a major inter-faculty study of 10
UK universities, published in the Lancet. More than half of British
university students had smoked "weed", failing to be dissuaded by the fact
that cannabis contains three times as many carcinogenic chemicals as
cigarettes. One-third had also experienced other substances, such as LSD,
ecstasy and poppers.

The UCD findings are hardly a surprise, considering that 37 per cent of
Irish 16-year-olds have used cannabis, which is the highest rate in Europe,
an EU-funded study found. In the past 10 years, there has been a 50 per cent
increase in drug and alcohol addiction in people under the age of 25. At
Trinity College, Dublin, 80-85 per cent of students have used cannabis,
believes Dr David Thomas, a GP at the health services in Trinity College.
"There are not as many using cannabis as there were five years ago," he
observes.

"Cannabis is probably as popular as ever," says Conor Power, student welfare
officer. "People don't consider it to be a big deal to smoke it. We don't
advocate it but we don't condemn it." The student handbook describes
cannabis as "most people's drug of choice" and advises that "smoking dope
makes you feel relaxed and happy. Hash tends to intensify what you are
feeling, which means it makes a great aphrodisiac, but if you are worried
about getting caught it can make you paranoid. It also tends to blur your
short-term memory, so it's definitely not a good idea during exams."

Conor's own view is that "people who smoke cannabis all the time are really,
really boring. The biggest thrill of their lives is finding a couch to sit
on. All they talk about is how much they smoked and how stoned they got last
night or what they made a bong out of. Can you imagine if people who drank
beer in the pub talked about nothing but beer all night long? I think if
people realised this effect, which never gets a mention in drug awareness
campaigns, they'd think twice the next time they were offered a spliff."

Being boring could be the least of your worries. "Cannabis is perceived as
being quite benign. The majority of students would view it as harmless or
low-risk. But I think that it is a lot more risky than people realise," says
Dr Denihan.

Psychological problems linked to cannabis include impaired judgment and
reaction times, anxiety, depression, dysphoric mood-states and paranoia.
Tragically, virulent and sudden onsets of mental illnesses such as
schizophrenia and acute psychotic episodes can be triggered by cannabis use.

"Some people have an innate vulnerability and there is no way of knowing who
those individuals may be," warns Dr Denihan. "For those who are vulnerable
cannabis could be devastating."

Dr Denihan has treated a number of young men who were using both cannabis
and ecstasy for protracted periods and developed anxiety and depression as a
result. They ended up on anti-depressants - not quite the picture that the
rave culture presents of drug use.

"Cannabis is dangerous and addictive," asserts Rolande Anderson, assistant
director of the Rutland Centre in Dublin, where hash addicts in their 20s
and younger have been treated. People who have problems with marijuana are
"de-motivated", "stuck" and lacking in energy with poor concentration, he
says. The matter of whether cannabis use can lead to addiction to other
drugs is controversial, although Anderson is convinced that this is the case.

"In people who develop other addictions, cannabis use is usually the first
drug of choice. It's very much a gateway drug, although not in all cases,"
he says. The UCD finding that a significant proportion of cannabis-smokers
were also using other drugs would seem to confirm this observation.

According to Det Insp Vincent Farrell of the Garda National Drugs Unit,
gardai seized two tons of cannabis last year, although much of this was
destined for other locations in Europe. Air travel has made cannabis easily
accessible for Irish youths, who start smoking at 16 and tend to drop the
habit by the age of 24, he says.

He recalls that the harmless and benign image of cannabis was challenged in
Dublin in the early 1980s by a case in which two young people who abused
cannabis broke into St Peter's church in Phibsboro and murdered the priest.
However, no matter how much you emphasise the potential ill-effects of
smoking cannabis, young people will continue to use it, believes Det Insp
Farrell. "When you are 18 you think you are immortal and indestructible," he
says.

Perhaps the most convincing argument against cannabis is that the vast
majority of users, when they reach their mid-20s, have the sense to stop
using it.

As part of Addiction Awareness Week, the Rutland Centre will be holding a
series of free public lectures at Milltown Park, Dublin. Tonight: Women and
Addiction - Why it is Tougher for Women. Thursday: 23rd: Drug Dependency -
from Hash to Heroin, Codeine to Cocaine. Friday: Whose Life is it Anyway?
Addiction and the Family. Monday: When you Lose your Child to Addiction - a
Workshop for Parents of Young People. All at 8 p.m.