A treatment selleck bio seeking profile of primary cannabis users In only half of the cases primary cannabis users had a treatment history. This was signifi-cantly lower than in all other groups, since between 72.7% and 81.6% of the other treatment seekers were already treatment-experienced. Of all treatment seekers, primary cannabis users had sought treatment most often in outpatient treatment agencies (in 70.3% of the cases). This figure was significantly higher than for alcohol and cocaine users; for amphetamine and opiate users the differences were not significant. In 43.6% of the cases, primary cannabis users were referred to treatment by police or justice officials. This is considerably higher than among other groups, except for amphetamine users (34.1%).

Finally, we also looked at the outcome of the intake interview: in a quarter of the cases, primary cannabis users did not start treatment or were not referred to another treatment centre. The intake interview remained ‘without immediate consequence’. For all other groups this figure varied between 7.7% and 11.4%. Independent determinants of being a primary cannabis user Logistic regression analyses (Table (Table2)2) were performed in order to identify independent determinants of being a primary cannabis user seeking treatment, while controlling for potential effects of other relevant variables. Age was significantly associated with being a primary cannabis user compared with three out of four reference groups (primary alcohol, opiate or cocaine users seeking treatment): being older decreased the odds of being a primary cannabis user.

In comparison with primary amphetamine users, age was not a significant determinant but sex was all the more: being male increased the odds of being a primary cannabis user by about four times. Using no other substances than the primary drug was a significant determinant in all four analyses: it significantly increased the odds of being a primary cannabis user as compared with treatment seekers with other illegal substances as primary drug (opiates, amphetamines or cocaine) but decreased the odds of being a primary cannabis user as compared to primary alcohol users. Overall, living, working and judicial situation were less important determinants, except in the analysis with primary cocaine users as reference group: being employed significantly decreased the odds whereas having legal problems increased the odds of being a primary cannabis user.

Finally, when treatment seeking variables are concerned, being registered only in outpatient facilities increased the odds of being a primary cannabis user as opposed to being a primary alcohol or cocaine user Carfilzomib whereas being registered more than once during the registration period decreased the odds as compared to being a primary amphetamine user.