UTRECHT, 16/05/06 - More and more youngsters in the Netherlands are seeking aid for cannabis addiction. Additionally, cocaine usage is on the increase, according to the Trimbos Institute's National Drug Monitor.

Cannabis usage in the Netherlands stabilised in recent years and is about average in Europe. Nonetheless, the number of people applying for addiction help with cannabis problems climbed by no less than 22 percent from 2003 to 2004, according to the survey presented yesterday. The research was commissioned by the Health Ministry.

Trimbos does not know how many youngsters are dependent on cannabis. It does know that cannabis usage is particularly high among boys leaving school prematurely (62 percent) and boys in prison (58 percent). Both figures refer to those aged 14-17 in the 2002-2003 period.

Dutch cannabis is on average three times as strong as foreign cannabis, added Trimbos. The content of the active ingredient THC is 18 percent compared with 7 percent respectively. Five years ago, the THC content of Dutch was just 9 percent.

Usage of ecstasy has stabilised, but it is still the most important hard drug at dance parties. The share of pills with a high dosage of MDMA (more than 140 mg) rose from 6 percent in 2003 to 10 percent in 2004. "There are however no signs yet that this development led to an increase in serious health incidents."

The number of people using alcohol sometimes has been fairly stable in recent years, and was 81 percent in 2004. Men aged 18-24 scored highest on heavy drinking. Thus, in 2004, two in five men (39 percent) and less than one in 10 women (9 percent) in this age group came into the heavy drinker category (more than six glasses on one or more days per week).

Between 2003 and 2004, the proportion of smokers in the population aged 15 or older declined from 30 to 28 percent. The proportion of heavy smokers (20 or more cigarettes per day) also shrank again somewhat in 2004, to 7 percent from 8 percent in 2003 (and 10 percent in 2000).