One plant, two forms
Hash and weed come from the female cannabis plant, which is also called hemp. Weed is the dried flower of the plant. Hash is the pressed resin of that same flower.
How it is used
Usually it is smoked in a joint, often mixed with tobacco, or pure in a pipe. Another way is vaporising in a vaporiser. Sometimes it is mixed into food.
You never know the strength exactly
The amount of THC differs per plant and per form. Because it comes from a plant, you never know exactly how much THC is in it. The Trimbos Institute measures the average strength in Dutch coffeeshops every year, in the THC and CBD monitor.
How many people use
About 23 percent of Dutch adults have used hash or weed at some point in their lives. Just over 1 percent use daily or almost daily. In 2024 almost 7 percent said they had used it in the past year.
Medicinal use
The internet is full of stories about hash and weed as a medicine. But there are only a few illnesses for which there is enough evidence that it works. A patient then gets medicinal cannabis through a doctor, and only when other medicines do not work or do not work well enough.
Sources
You have read this chapter.
Finished reading?
The facts from the Remember boxes come back in lesson 1. Every question you get right first time earns 10 XP.