Introduction: Debates about the legalization of illegal substances (e.g., cannabis) continue around the globe. A key consideration in these debates is the adequate protection of young people, which could be informed by current prevalence and age-of-onset patterns. For Switzerland, such information is limited, which is particularly true for women, despite advanced political efforts to legalize cannabis. The objective of the current study was to investigate substance use prevalence rates and ages of onset in a community-representative sample of female and male young adults in Switzerland. Methods: Data came from the Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso). In 2018, participants (N = 1,180, 50.8% females) were ∼20 years old. Lifetime and past-year use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabinoids, stimulants, hallucinogens, opioids, and benzodiazepines were assessed with an extensive substance use questionnaire. Additionally, ages of onsets of the respective substances were estimated by averaging participants’ self-reported ages of onsets from ages 13 to 20 (max. 4 assessments). Results: 57% of 20-year-olds had used cannabinoids, 16% stimulants, 15% opioids (mostly codeine), and 8% hallucinogens in the past year. Males had higher prevalence than females for most drugs; nevertheless, females’ prevalence rates were notably high. Legal substance use was typically initiated 1.3–2.7 years before legal selling age. Thus, almost half of the sample had consumed alcohol and tobacco by age 14. More than 40% of the total sample had smoked cannabis by age 16. Males initiated use of legal substances and cannabis earlier than females. Discussion: Our recent community-representative data suggested unexpectedly high levels and early onsets of substance use compared to a previous Swiss surveys and also the European average. Drug policy debates should consider urban substance use patterns when considering legalization efforts.
Eur Addict Res

中文翻译：

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高患病率和早发性：瑞士城市青年群体中的合法和非法物质使用

简介：关于非法物质（例如大麻）合法化的辩论在全球范围内继续进行。这些辩论中的一个关键考虑因素是对年轻人的充分保护，这可以通过当前的患病率和发病年龄模式来了解。对于瑞士来说，此类信息是有限的，这对女性来说尤其如此，尽管为使大麻合法化做出了先进的政治努力。本研究的目的是调查瑞士女性和男性青年社区代表样本中的物质使用流行率和发病年龄。方法：数据来自苏黎世儿童到成年社会发展项目 (z-proso)。2018 年，参与者（ N= 1,180，50.8% 的女性）年龄约为 20 岁。使用广泛的物质使用问卷评估了酒精、烟草、大麻素、兴奋剂、致幻剂、阿片类药物和苯二氮卓类药物的终生和过去一年的使用情况。此外，通过平均参与者自我报告的 13 至 20 岁的发病年龄（最多 4 次评估）来估计相应物质的发病年龄。结果：57% 的 20 岁人群在过去一年中使用过大麻素、16% 的兴奋剂、15% 的阿片类药物（主要是可待因）和 8% 的致幻剂。大多数药物的男性患病率高于女性；尽管如此，女性的患病率仍然很高。合法物质的使用通常在合法销售年龄之前 1.3-2.7 年开始。因此，到 14 岁时，几乎一半的样本曾吸食过酒精和烟草。到 16 岁时，超过 40% 的样本曾吸食过大麻。男性比女性更早开始使用合法物质和大麻。讨论：我们最近的社区代表数据表明，与之前的瑞士调查和欧洲平均水平相比，物质使用水平出乎意料地高且发病早。在考虑合法化努力时，药物政策辩论应考虑城市物质使用模式。
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