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The EU is flooded with cannabis, which is extremely strong enough to increase users’ risk of psychosis, the block’s drug watchdog agency warns.
Alexis Goosediel, director of the EU Drug Dispatch, said cannabis is five times stronger than the 1969 counterculture music festival “Pots Smoked at Woodstock.”
“That’s a concern because it’s so potent that it’s far more likely to be the cause of episodes of mental illness and other mental health issues,” Goosdeel told the Financial Times.
The warning comes as five EU countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, implement or develop plans to further legalize drugs.
Goosdeel said the increased efficacy of cannabis, which is intentionally designed by drug producers, is not necessarily a reason to reconsider these plans. Instead, he argued that legalization could give authorities the opportunity to impose clear restrictions on the strength of cannabis.
Cannabis is Europe’s most widely used illegal drug with an estimated 8.4% of adults, or 24 million people, over the past year, according to the Drug Agency’s annual report released Thursday.
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According to an analysis of chemical traces of urban wastewater, Amsterdam and Groningen in the Netherlands are one of the top users of cannabis in Europe, followed by Barcelona and Tarragona in Spain, Oslo and Lisbon.
A key component of cannabis is THC, a psychoactive ingredient that creates a sense of “high,” and drug institutions said its presence in the European cannabis resin almost doubled between 2013 and 2023.
The average THC content of the resin – sticky substances mixed with tobacco or injected for edible use – is currently 23%, and 11% of herbal cannabis leaves that can be smoked directly. Goosdeel said Woodstock Pot is close to 4%.
Medical research has found that regular cannabis use, especially at high doses, can cause hallucinations, delusions and delusions in some people. Teens and young adults are at increased risk for chronic psychosis, including schizophrenia.
“There is strong evidence that the impact from the perspective of mental illness episodes seems to be related to the fact that some people are vulnerable. However, there is no way to detect vulnerabilities ahead of time,” said Goosdeel, who will step down later this year after a 10-year lead from a Lisbon-based agency.
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Last year, Germany decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis and allowed plants to grow at home. Luxembourg, Malta and the Czech Republic have made and planned similar moves.
The Netherlands – European pioneering in cannabis legalization – is experimenting with how well-known “coffee shops” buy medicines from regulated supply chains rather than criminal gangs.
Goosdeel said sales didn’t occur as expected after Uruguay legalized cannabis in 2013.
In response, the authorities decided to “make the legal cannabis pot efficacy a competitive product” and they remained within the scope of what was considered a safe limit.
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