The average starting age for cannabis use is around 18: only 3% have tried it at the age of 13; 54% at the age of 19
The initial average ageof cannabis use in Hego Euskal Herria is around 18 years, specifically in the Basque Country it is 18.4 years and in Navarre it is somewhat later, 18.7 years.
These data are collected in the latest EITB Data study , which analyses cannabis use in Hego Euskal Herria and collects various reports and survey data on drug use, risk of addiction, attitudes to legalization or the evolution of arrests.
According to EiTB Data, the first contact of young Basques with cannabis occurs most of the time in the last years of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) or after the end of that stage. At the age of 13, only 3% of young people have tried cannabis; at the age of 17, 37%; and at the age of 19, 54% have used cannabis.
Shade by age
However, with regard to the age at which consumption begins, some nuances must be taken into account.
This average age of 18.4 years is derived from the EDADES (Spanish Alcohol and Drug Survey) survey of the Ministry of Health, but there is another survey that significantly reduces the average age: the ESTUDES study of the Ministry of Health, conducted among students aged 14 to 18.
In the last edition of 2025, he concluded that the average starting age for cannabis use was 14.8 years , although it should be noted that only 21 per cent of those surveyed tested cannabis.
The reason for this difference is in the survey methodology, the first of which takes into account the age range between 15 and 64, so that adults are included, and a retrospective calculation is made of the starting age.
With regard to the ESTUDES survey, which contains responses from adolescents focusing on current consumption, excluding adults who have started later, it should be noted that this average age of 14.8 years has been taken into account by those who have tried cannabis, and at that age (14-18) only one-fifth of those surveyed.
According to the Basque Country Addiction Survey, 13.7 per cent of all those who have tried cannabis have done so before the age of 15; 31.9 per cent between the ages of 16 and 17; 45.5 per cent betweenthe ages of 18 and 24; and 8.9 per cent between the ages of 25 or later.
In a focus group made by EiTB Data there is also an age-related nuance. The teenagers who participated place the starting age between 13 and 14.
"I tried it when I was 13 or 14, second of ESO," says a 17-year-old.
In addition, some young people say that alcohol is sometimes the gateway to testing cannabis; they also say that cannabis may be the first step towards testing other drugs later.
Evolution: young people decrease cannabis
On the other hand, EITB Data has also analysed the evolution of cannabis use among young people aged 15 to29. The data show a decrease in consumption in all age brackets from 2008 to 2023.
Thus, currently, only 9 per centof young people aged 15 to 19 have used cannabis in the last month, compared to 20 per cent in 2008. Among those aged 20 to 24, the decline is even more pronounced: the percentage of those who have used cannabis in the last month is now around 10 per cent, compared to 30 per cent in 2008.
A similar trend is observed in the 25-29 age group: the percentage of young people who claim to have consumed in the last month has fallen from 24% to 10%.
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