Is cannabis a gateway drug?

Whoever built the joint is the first to pull it. The person who got the weed comes second. These are unwritten laws, says Marco, and decent stoners abide by them. «Smoking weed is something collegial,» says the 16-year-old, «it's not about ego.» Marco doesn't want to smoke today. He passes the joint to Leyla, who starts her weekend with it. In her teaching job, she looks after children, so smoking weed on weekdays, she says, is taboo for her. Anna and Leyla have made new friends since they started smoking weed. «The old ones were totally against it back then,» they say, and Anna laughs: «Now they smoke weed themselves.»

Dossier: Weed

Cannabis is the most widely consumed illegal drug in Switzerland - and, as Sucht Schweiz recognises, «a youth phenomenon». Media reports that the drug is getting stronger and stoners are getting younger and younger are unsettling parents. Experts warn of the damage: cannabis leads to psychosis, makes people stupid and also makes them susceptible to harder drugs. All wrong, say cannabis advocates, stoners are at least as smart as their abstinent peers and the theory that cannabis is a gateway drug is a long-disproved myth.

Smoking pot: What is true?

This dossier aims to inform, educate and categorise. We have collated the latest figures, spoken to experts - and we let young people have their say. We met them at the youth centre in the Zurich lakeside community of Richterswil. They talk under false names, because of the apprenticeship, but also because of their parents, who should not read in black and white that their son or daughter smokes cannabis.

One hour of world peace

Nico and his friends order pizza and laugh because of the cliché they are serving: Stoners are always hungry. A joke comes to Nico's mind: «If the whole world lit a joint, we'd have one hour of world peace - and then acute food shortages.» Everyone laughs. Why do you smoke weed? «Because it's chilled,» says Fernando, «it's relaxing.» «It's about being together,» says Leyla, «we have deep conversations when we smoke weed.» Daniele Gasparini, youth coordinator in Richterswil for 20 years, knows that it is the joy of experimentation and curiosity that makes young people reach for a joint, as well as peer pressure and the appeal of the illegal. The 63-year-old has seen many trends come and go. Smoking pot, he says, is a timeless phenomenon.
Gasparini does not have the impression that more young people smoke pot today than in the past. The statistics prove him right: in the international HSBC (Health Behaviour in Schoolaged Children) health survey conducted in 2002, around 37% of all 15-year-old schoolgirls in Switzerland stated that they had smoked pot at least once in their lives - in 2014, the figure was 19%. Among boys of the same age, the figure even fell from 46 per cent to 30 per cent in the same period.

Cannabis is the most widely consumed illegal drug - and a phenomenon of youth.

However, Gasparini believes that not much has changed in terms of consumer motives. For example, the desire to belong somewhere plays a key role: «By smoking weed, young people emphasise their affiliation to a certain group.» In certain scenes such as hip-hop or reggae culture, cannabis use is part of the group culture, just as certain idioms or clothing styles are an expression of it. But where is the boundary between youth culture and addiction? «If people smoke weed alone, something is wrong,» say Leyla and Anna. And: anyone who only thinks about the next joint has a problem.

Communicating values instead of building up pressure

Caroline says her son is like that. The 50-year-old lawyer has lost touch with her teenager: «He shoots himself up with a joint every day. What then sits in the room - apathetic, lethargic, with an «I don't care about anything» attitude - is no longer my son.» Flurin and his friends are also familiar with such cases. «Anyone who crashes like that,» Flurin believes, «wants to use weed to suppress problems that they already had before: the cancelled apprenticeship, conflicts at home, that kind of thing.» Gasparini confirms this tendency.
However, the youth worker emphasises that there are no universally applicable criteria for defining a «problem stoner». «Parents often reduce normal adolescent phenomena to smoking pot, for example when a young person sleeps a lot and is often tired.» In general, adults too often limit themselves to demanding abstinence from young people instead of asking them how they are feeling. Gasparini calls this symptom-fighting, which forgets to investigate the causes. «We should instead be interested in how young people are doing,» he demands, «and not just when they have problems. Prevention means relationship work.»

«Today, many mothers and fathers are obsessed with the fear that their child might not develop optimally.»

Christian Kalt, head of the clinic for addiction therapy in Neuenhof

Christian Kalt is the head of the addiction therapy clinic in Neuenhof in the canton of Aargau, which also supports minors during withdrawal. «Most of our adolescent patients have caring parents,» says Kalt, «they do their best, but they don't have enough time.» Kalt blames this less on the parents than on a performance-orientated society that sets the pace and dictates what is considered desirable: success, and visible success at that. «Today, many mothers and fathers are obsessed with the fear that their child might not develop optimally.»
Parents demand from their child the same willingness to perform that they themselves demonstrate. As a result, the demands on their offspring are immense, as is the risk of failing. «And because everyone is so busy, there is no one there to support the child,» says Christian Kalt. «No wonder they have to let off steam as teenagers at some point.» In the worst case, drugs are the outlet. The best prevention is therefore time, which parents can give their children, and an upbringing that emphasises values over hard work.

When the shot backfires

«I wouldn't describe cannabis as a gateway drug,» says clinic director Kalt. Many of the patients who present for detox for so-called hard drugs have no experience with weed. He also emphasises that although most young people experiment with cannabis at some point, very few of them develop problematic use. «However, this does not change the fact that the dangers of smoking weed are underestimated.»
According to the addiction expert, they are as follows: An excessive THC content. The cannabis that is in circulation today has nothing to do with the herb that was smoked 20 years ago. The content of the active ingredient THC, which causes the high, is up to five times higher. Anyone who regularly consumes such a dose will probably no longer be able to cope with everyday life at some point. It is therefore not surprising that the Neuenhof addiction clinic is receiving an increasing number of enrolments from young people who have been thrown off track not by alcohol or cocaine, but by cannabis.
Risk for young users: It is not only their place in society that is at stake, but also their health. Researchers are at least unanimously of the opinion that weed can have a negative effect on brain development in very young users, who start at the age of 12 to 13. Adolescents with a psychological background are also at risk(see interview with addiction expert Oliver Berg). Tempting mixed consumption: Drugs are not only cheaper today, they are also easy to obtain. Young people can get almost anything on the street. As a result, the mixed consumption of alcohol with cocaine and synthetic party drugs, as well as marijuana, has increased.

«Only a minority of stoners have an addiction problem - but those who do are getting younger and younger.»

Christian Kalt, addiction expert

Statistics have no clear answer to the question of whether stoners are actually getting younger and younger. The most recent figures from the Swiss cannabis monitoring programme are from 2010, and the report states that the average age of initiation is 15.8 years. In comparison, young people were slightly older in 2004 when they had their first joint, namely 16.5 years old. The HSBC study from 2015 leaves the question of the age of initiation unanswered. However, addiction expert Kalt is certain: «Although only a minority of stoners have an addiction problem, those who do are getting younger and younger.» However, says Kalt, this applies to all types of substance abuse: from alcohol and cannabis to harder drugs.
Marco says that he and his friends have never tried hard drugs. But they have all been offered them. The young people say they are particularly afraid of synthetic drugs, as their effects are difficult to assess. But even an ordinary joint can have serious consequences. Lorenzo, 16, stopped smoking pot after a few bad experiences. «The last time I did it, I locked myself in the loo for three hours afterwards and stared at the floor,» reports the graphics apprentice. «I thought I was going to die.» The panic attack was followed by a low that lasted for several days. Panic and depressive moods are a possible consequence of cannabis use; in the worst case, they can take on psychotic forms. The symptoms usually subside as soon as the body has broken down the substance.

What most stoners smoke is pure chemistry

Many young stoners disregard the health risk posed by the stretched product, says youth worker Daniele Gasparini. «Many believe they are consuming a natural product. That's nonsense. What most people smoke is pure chemicals.» If you don't grow your own herb, you have to assume that you're dealing with a diluted product. Not only sugar and sand are added, but also potassium fertiliser, liquid plastics and lead.
Gasparini therefore has a project in mind that he wants to realise in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences in Wädenswil: young people should be able to have their weed tested for extenders. Whether the project will ever be realised and whether Marco will use it one day is uncertain. He smokes less weed today than he used to anyway. This also has to do with his mate Flurin, with whom Marco has made an agreement: they only smoke on special occasions. «Above all,» says Flurin, «we don't want to give off the stereotype of the listless stoner. You can smoke weed without losing all drive.» Flurin describes cannabis as a stimulant. «But I have respect for the stuff. I often stop after two puffs. I allow myself to smoke weed from time to time - but I don't need it.»

For this dossier, our author Virgina Nolan met with youth coordinator Daniele Gasparini and young people at the Richterswil ZH youth centre to talk to them about smoking weed. They do this under a false name.

CANNABIS - Forms and facts

• Hemp (Latin: cannabis) is one of the oldest useful plants in the world. It is used to produce fibres and edible oil, for example. The hemp plant has over 450 different active ingredients, 70 of which are so-called cannabinoids, which are also used in medicine. The psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is primarily known for its intoxicating effect.

• Because of their high THC content, female hemp plants are used for drug hemp. Thanks to sophisticated cultivation methods in so-called indoor plantations, the THC content of cannabis products has risen sharply in recent years - maximum values reach almost 30 per cent. Dried flowers and sometimes leaves of the female hemp plant are sold as marijuana, grass, weed or ganja. Their appearance is similar to that of tea or dried herbs. Marijuana is usually smoked - pure or mixed with tobacco - in a joint. It contains an average of just over 10 per cent THC.

• The resin of the female hemp inflorescences is known as hashish, piece or dope. Hashish has a dark colour, its consistency can be crumbly or solid. It is pressed into slabs or lumps for sale. Hashish contains slightly more THC than marijuana, usually around 12 to 13 per cent. It is usually smoked, but - like marijuana - can also be consumed via a water pipe (bong). Cannabis oil is not widely used in Switzerland. It is obtained through a complex distillation process and has a THC content of over 50 per cent. It is added to tobacco, drinks or food - most young people are familiar with space cakes, home-baked biscuits with an intoxicating effect. Cannabis oil produces an intense high, but the dose is difficult to control.

• Synthetically produced cannabinoids are in circulation under names such as Spice or Smoke. They are sold as herbal mixtures that are supposed to act as a room fragrance. In reality, however, these mixtures are usually smoked. Artificial cannabinoids are dangerous because they have a stronger effect than natural cannabis and their concentration can vary greatly.

About the author

Read more:

• «Anyone who starts smoking weed young has a problem». Addiction expert Oliver Berg talks about the effect of cannabis on our bodies, what it does to the brain - and why he is in favour of legalisation.

• My child is smoking pot. What now? How should parents react? Alarmed or calm? With conversations or bans?