A global study of 100,000 young people has found no evidence that teenage cannabis use is higher in countries with more liberal drug laws or lower in countries that have tougher controls.
The research, which suggests that teenagers pay little regard to the law when choosing whether or not to take the drug, is likely to be seized on by campaigners who advocate the decriminalisation of cannabis in Britain.
The study, by Alex Stevens, professor of criminal justice at the University of Kent, used data from the World Health Organisation to examine cannabis use by teenagers in 38 countries, including the UK, America, Russia, France, Germany and Canada. Professor Stevens said: “The harms and costs of imposing criminal convictions on people who use cannabis do