Survey: Are You A Secret Stoner?

Professor Adam R. Winstock, MBBS, BSc, MSc, MD, MRCP, MRCPsych, FAChAM

Photo by Lochfoot

This piece is brought to you by the founder of the Global Drug Survey, consultant psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist, Dr. Adam R. Winstock.

Many people are proud of their drug use. For many, it can define who they are among both their social circle and in their own mind for a period of their life. This is perhaps more true for cannabis users than for any other drug.

Not only is cannabis the most widely used illegal drug, but it is also regarded as one of the safest. Many non-users, including the mass media, regard its use as less of a mortal sin than the use of cocaine or heroin, for example.

About one-third of adults across the world who will take part in this year’s Global Drug Survey have used cannabis, so it’s also pretty likely that most people know someone who has used cannabis, and for the most part, that person is probably pretty normal. But despite regulation change in many countries, pot’s appearance on the front covers of newspapers, social media being awash with stony images and people shouting about their use of weed with pride, affection and perceived indifference to the outside the world, there are many cannabis users who hide their use from others in their life.

For personal or professional reasons, many people just keep quiet about their use.

To our knowledge, no group has ever sought to assess to what extent cannabis users hide their use from others in their life. No one has asked the question—who knows about your cannabis use and who do you hide it from?

Until now.

So if you love your weed but are frightened of what others might think so you hide your stash, bathe your eyes in Clear Eyes and keep your windows open even with a snowstorm blowing outside your house, we’d love you to secretly fill in this year’s Global Drug Survey.

Remember it’s anonymous and confidential, and we don’t even collect your IP address. Launched last month and continuing until the new year, GDS2017 will be the biggest drug survey of all time. We’ll share the results with everyone in May 2017. So check that there’s no one outside your door or looking over your shoulder and go to part in the survey HERE.

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Professor Adam R. Winstock, MBBS, BSc, MSc, MD, MRCP, MRCPsych, FAChAM

Adam is a consultant addiction psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist based in London. He is an honorary clinical professor at the Institute of Epidemiolgy and Health Care, University College London. He has published over 120 papers. He is also founder and director of Global Drug Survey (GDS) which runs the biggest drug survey in the world. He is also the architect of the free online and smartphone apps, the drugs meter (www.drugsmeter.com) and drinksmeter (www.drinksmeter.com), as well as the world's first safer use cannabis guidelines at www.saferuselimits.co.