Stronger cannabis linked to rise in demand for drug treatment programmes

Study drawing on data from the Netherlands is the first to show how admissions to treatment centres rise and fall in line with cannabis strength

Researchers have found fresh evidence to suggest that more potent strains of cannabis are at least partly to blame for the number of people seeking help from drug treatment programmes.

Scientists at King's College London drew on data from the Netherlands to show that admissions to specialist treatment centres rose when coffee shops sold increasingly more potent cannabis, but fell again when the cannabis weakened.