Addictions in France during the spring 2020 lockdown (March 17th - May 11th, 2020). State of play and initial results of the Cannabis online survey

Despite national variations, the pandemic led most governments to declare a state of health emergency and to take exceptional measures to limit the spread of the epidemic: restrictions on movement, closure of most places open to the public and of all international borders, general lockdown in some 50 countries, particularly within the European Union (except in the Netherlands and Sweden) and in France. 

Between 17 March and 11 May 2020, the entire French population was ordered to stay at home and checks on movements in public spaces were put in place. This period has resulted in changes in lifestyle, household consumption, work organisation, conditions of people's movement, access to health care, etc. It has also affected the conditions of access to drugs (licit and illicit) and the contexts of use. 

This issue of Tendances provides an overall assessment of the first effects of the health crisis and lockdown on the supply and use of psychoactive substances and gambling, supplemented by the initial results of the online survey of cannabis users conducted by the OFDT between 10 July and 7 August 2020. 

It provides an overview of the developments reported for the three most consumed products (alcohol, tobacco and cannabis), both from the supply point of view (availability for purchase, supply arrangements, price trends, etc.) and from the demand point of view (consumption levels, contexts and practices of use, etc.), in connection with the measures taken to control sales and limit consumption occasions (keeping tobacconists open, closing bars and restaurants). 

It also reports on the organisational adaptation of health care institutions and the harm reduction carried out, in real time, during this critical period.