ATTITUDES ABOUT CANNABIS AND CANNABIS USE IN TWO CONSECUTIVE STUDIES AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION IN CROATIA

Abstract

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in Croatia. Although some peo-ple seem to use cannabis without adverse consequences, widespread cannabis use still poses a significant burden on public health. The aims of this study ware to determine if prevalence of cannabis use and cannabis attitudes changed between the two study waves, and to determine wich groups regarding cannabis user and attitudes exist in the Croatian general population and did they change between the two study waves. The re-search was conducted on two representative samples of Croatian citizens aged betwe-en 15 and 64 years, first collected in 2011 (N=4756), and second in 2015 (N=4992). Cross-sectional design was employed, and face-to-face survey was used in data collec-tion. In the current study, data on the prevalence and extent of cannabis use, attitudes on cannabis use and policies regarding cannabis use, risk perception of cannabis use, as well as relevant characteristics of respondents were used. Data were analyzed using confidence intervals and latent class analysis (LCA). Cannabis use increased between the two study waves and the attitudes became more favorable. Three classes were obta-ined in the LCA in both waves: “non-users – cannabis conservative” (the biggest cla-ss), “rare to occasional users – cannabis liberal” (medium sized class) and “moderate to heavy users – very cannabis liberal” (the smallest class). The size of classes changed between the waves, with the latter two classes increasing in size in 2015. Results are discussed in the context of recent legal and societal events in Croatian society which might have driven the discovered changes in cannabis use and attitudes. Key words: attitudes about cannabis, cannabis use, prevalence of cannabis use, ge-neral population, Croatia