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50 per cent of students at University College Dublin have used cannabis, according to the preliminary results of an unpublished study.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 £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 moodstates 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 begin at 8 p.m. Lectures will also take place in Cahir, Clonmel, Dundalk, Ennis, Limerick, Portlaoise, Thurles and Waterford. For further details, phone: 01-4946358