"In 2018, approximately 1.02 million Dutch people aged 18 and older had used cannabis in the past year (7.5% of this age group). Last-year use is highest among people aged between 18-19 and 20-24, (21.4% and 23.7%). The figure for last-month use among people aged 18 and older is 4.6%. More than a third (35.0%) of the last-month users smoked dope (almost) every day.
"The percentages of people who had ever smoked dope (23.7%) and those who smoked dope (almost) every day (1.6%) were higher in 2018 than in previous years (21.1% and 1.2% in 2015), but it is still too early to speak of a trend.
"The percentage of last-year cannabis users among 15-64-year-olds in the Netherlands was, at 9.6%, higher than the European average (7.4%).
"Of cannabis users aged 18 and older, 83.5% used cannabis recreationally, 5.8% used cannabis only for medical reasons, and 10.7% used cannabis both as a medicine and recreationally. Of those who (also) used cannabis as a medicine, 90.6% did so without a doctor's prescription.
"Among secondary school pupils between 12 and 16 years old, there was a fall in last-year use between 2003 and 2015 (from 13.1% to 8.2%), but last-year use remained at the same level in 2017 (7.9%)."
Trimbos Instituut: Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (2020). National drug monitor 2019. English summary. Amsterdam: Trimbos-instituut.
