Experiences with Cannabis

Andrew started smoking cannabis daily in his late teens and in his twenties he started drinking alcohol heavily. He now describes his alcohol and cannabis consumption as ‘addictions’.

Anika has smoked cannabis on a regular basis since her mid-teens. She says she smokes to ‘chill out’, and ‘be more open…happy and content with life’.

In his early twenties, Artemis began smoking cannabis with his partner at the time and a few years later, after moving to Australia, he started taking drugs sometimes referred to as party drugs.

Callum began smoking cannabis in his mid-teens, which he says ‘was a sign of rebellion’ during a time when he ‘wasn’t happy with [his] life’.

Dee Jay started smoking cannabis daily in his early twenties while at university, and taking MDMA and cocaine on the weekends.

Dylan began drinking alcohol and smoking ‘yarndi’ (cannabis) with his friends in his early teens and continued to do so into his early twenties.

Jacob started smoking cannabis in his late teens when he was studying for a tertiary qualification as he found it helped him concentrate on his studies.

After about five years of regular cannabis consumption Jenna began to think she might be experiencing an ‘addiction’ to cannabis.

Jim began smoking cannabis in his late teens at parties with his friends. He says this bound his social circle together.

Lala began smoking cannabis in her mid-teens and has continued to do so since then.

When Louise first started smoking cannabis regularly, her parents encouraged her to seek alcohol and other drug counselling.

Lucy describes herself as having a ‘cannabis habit’ and a ‘mental dependency’ to cannabis.

Matthew has smoked cannabis ‘for the better part of thirty years’. He finds it helps him cope with depression, and gives him hope and motivation.

A few years before the interview, Max's father died and he started smoking cannabis every day to cope with the loss.

Nadia began smoking cannabis daily in her mid-teens. She says this helped her cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Pauline started smoking cannabis daily in her mid-teens and continued during her twenties while at university.

Sydalicious started smoking cannabis when she was in her late teens and has smoked it intermittently since then. She finds it helps her manage pain associated with injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident.

In his early twenties, Ted began smoking cannabis daily, and then a few years later he started taking MDMA, cocaine and GHB regularly. He also took ice and ketamine occasionally.

During her teens Renee smoked cannabis daily with her then partner. The relationship ended when she was in her early twenties and it was around this time that she began taking ecstasy and ice.