Cannabis use in the Balearics starts at the age of 12

Marcos Company, who is the director of the Projecte Jove (Youth Project) in the Balearics, said yesterday that children are using cannabis from the age of 12 and that parents should pay greater attention to what their children are doing and so prevent them from falling into addiction.
He added that “cannabis and alcohol consumption in adolescence is linked to young people’s experimentation”.
These observations were made during the presentation of the annual report of Projecte Home Balears (of which Projecte Jove is one part).
Projecte Home, started 28 years ago to specifically tackle drug dependency among young men (the “home” means “man”), last year helped a total of 1,312 users, of whom there were at times over 480 people receiving daily treatment to get them off drugs or to combat alcohol addiction.
Almost 80% of those that Projecte Home now helps are men, and a typical profile is someone of 38 years of age, with a reasonable education and whose addiction is principally to cocaine (some 37%). Alcohol addiction accounts for 29%, then heroine (19.4%) and cannabis (12.5%).
The president of Projecte Home, Tomeu Catala, said that in an ideal world organisations such as his wouldn’t need to exist, but it does and its important work is directed towards those who every day contact the organisation and seek help with their addictions and also towards family members who are affected.