Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38502205›Full record

ArticleEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2025

Cannabis use, health problems, and criminal offences in Germany: national and state-level trends between 2009 and 2021.

Jakob Manthey, Sinja Klinger, Moritz Rosenkranz, Larissa Schwarzkopf

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Addiction and chronic skin diseases: A Pan-European study on prevalence, associations and patient impact.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Treatment demand for cannabis use problems: analyses of routine data from 30 European countries.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jakob MantheyCentre of Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. j.manthey@uke.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1231-3760
Sinja KlingerInstitute for Interdisciplinary Addiction and Drug Research, Lokstedter Weg 24, 20251, Hamburg, Germany.
Moritz RosenkranzCentre of Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0851-6330
Larissa SchwarzkopfIFT Institut Für Therapieforschung, Mental Health and Addiction Research, Leopoldstrasse 175, 80804, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9402-7700

Funding

Central Institute of the Federal Association of SHI physicians AmCaSD
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The German federal government plans to decriminalise cannabis. The impact of this policy on use prevalence, cannabis-related health and legal problems cannot be fully anticipated and should be viewed in context with current trends. We used routine data on (a) cannabis use (population-based surveys), (b) cannabis-related diagnoses (ICD-10 code F12) in outpatient medical settings and (c) minor law offences (registered violations against the narcotics law for possessing small amounts) to analyse age and sex-specific trends by federal state between 2009 and 2021. To enable comparisons across time and federal state besides crude prevalence rates, age-standardised rates were calculated. Between 2009 and 2021, the age-standardised prevalence of cannabis use (5.7-10.6%), rate of diagnoses (1.1-3.7 per 1,000), and legal offences (1.8-3.1 per 1,000) increased, with the largest increase noted for cannabis-related diagnoses. Relatively, increases were most pronounced for older users (40-to-59-year-olds: use and offences; 35-to-44-year-olds: cannabis-related diagnoses) and rather stagnant for minors. Cannabis use and health problems appear to be more pronounced in Northern and city states, while no clear geographic trend was observed for law offences. Cannabis-related outpatient treatment demand has risen more steeply than use prevalence suggesting an increasing challenge for the health care system. Despite rising rates for documented offences, the long-term implications of law violations on social and occupational life are poorly understood but may be considered for evaluations of the proposed law changes.

Indexed as

CrimeCriminalsMarijuana AbuseMarijuana UseAdolescentAdultAgedChildFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceYoung AdultCannabisCriminal justiceLegalisationPrevalenceTreatment demand

Identifiers

PMID38502205
PMCPMC11910392

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.