Experience of Czech University Students with Cannabis: Interfaculty Comparison

Alena Kavalírová, Jiří Stöhr, Kateřina Venderová, Peter Višňovský (visnovsk@faf.cuni.cz)

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

Summary

A survey on the awareness about legal and illegal drugs and the consumption of them was conducted in 1.312 students of six different faculties in the Czech Republic. The availability of cannabis and the prevalence rates of its use in university students were investigated. A standardized questionnaire designed by the Health Department of the Regional Office in Hradec Králové was employed for the survey. The average age of respondents was 20.2 years. The number of females was higher (75.4 %) than that of males (24.6 %). Prague students reported the highest availability of marijuana (80.3 %), the smallest one was found at the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen. The offer of hashish was four fold smaller than that of marijuana. In average, 40.2 % of university students had experience with marijuana and 9.6 % with hashish. Mostly, there was a predominance of the male users over the female ones. The highest experience with marijuana and hashish was found at the 3^rd Faculty of Medicine in Prague. Three quarters of marijuana consumers admitted more than one experience with marijuana; 8.5 % of respondents had used marijuana more than twenty times, the males tree fold more than the females.