BACKGROUND Cannabis is the illicit drug most widely experimented with and consumed by the French population. In 2021, 47.3% of 18-64 year-olds had already experimented with cannabis (vs. 32.9% in 2010), and 10.6% continued to use it the following year (vs. 8.0% in 2010). The ratio is one woman for every two men. In Europe, the number of patients admitted for the first time to treatment for cannabis-related problems rose by 76% between 2006 and 2017. With the laws of December 31, 1970 and March 5, 2007, France has one of the most repressive legislative arsenals on illicit drug use in Europe. Paradoxically, it is the European country with the highest levels of cannabis consumption. Differences in legislation between European countries could lead to differences in the type of use of this drug: where legislation permits, the elderly could consume cannabis for medical purposes. However there is no evidence that the reasons for using cannabis for medical purposes change according to cannabis legislation. On the other hand, the proportion of cannabis users among adults is increasing Cannabis is the illicit drug most widely experimented with and consumed by the French population. In 2021, 47.3% of 18-64 year-olds had already experimented with cannabis (vs. 32.9% in 2010), and 10.6% continued to use it the following year (vs. 8.0% in 2010). The gender ratio is one woman for every two men. In Europe, the number of patients admitted for the first time to treatment for cannabis -related problems rose by 76% between 2006 and 2017. With the laws of December 31, 1970 and March 5, 2007, France has one of the most repressive legislative arsenals on illicit drug use in Europe. Paradoxically, it is the European country with the highest levels of cannabis consumption. Differences in legislation between European countries could lead to differences in the type of use of this drug: where legislation permits, the elderly could consume cannabis for medical purposes. However, there is no evidence that the reasons for using cannabis for medical purposes change according to cannabis legislation. On the other hand, the proportion of cannabis users among adults is increasing compared with teenagers. This reflects both the aging of the generations who experimented with this product in their youth, and a decline in the rate of cannabis initiation among teenagers. Between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of cannabis users over 40 seeking help for problematic use rose from 5.4% to 9.6%, but the reasons for adult cannabis use are unclear. In adulthood, cannabis may be used for emotional or psychological difficulties, as a complement to or instead of psychotropic drugs or, especially over the age of 45, for pain, sometimes as a substitute for opioids. Other medical reasons for using cannabis in clude anxiety, nervousness, depression or insomnia. When we explored young people's motivations for experimenting with and using psychoactive substances, cannabis, in contrast to cigarettes, gave rise to positive impressions and often benefited from the image of a less addictive and less dangerous substance. Cannabis consumption trajectories from adolescence to adulthood are poorly understood, and adults' perceptions and opinions of this drug are not documented in France. OBJECTIVE To determine the reasons and motivavations for medical cannabis use among adults over the age of 30 in France. METHOD Within the methodological framework of a mixed-method study, the authors present in this article a qualitative investigation using interpretative phenomenological analyse (IPA). This type of analysis was used to provide insight into participants' individual experiences and points of view, in order to identify a common pheno- menon. The study population was the TEMPO cohort, a cohort of young adults followed long- term since 1991 and comprising 659 participants in 2021. Among the members of this cohort, 58% reported having experimented with cannabis at least once in their lives. Detailed reasons for this use were available for 91% of them. To be eligible for the qualitative study, participants had to have declared in the quantitative study that they were using cannabis for medical purposes, which corresponded to 36 participants. A third of these were included in the quali - tative study on the basis of a homogeneous purposive sampling. After the participants had given their written consent, comprehensive and in-depth video- vidual interviews were recorded, anonymized and transcreted. These interviews were conducted freely, following the annotations of an interview guide written by researchers with expertise in the fields of cannabis clinic and use. It included questions on participants' cannabis use (quantity, frequency...), motivations for use and questions on how their use influenced their daily lives. All the researchers kept a diary throughout the data collection to record their feelings and preconceptions. The main preconceived opinion was that adults would use cannabis to treat physical ailments if they had exhausted all available treatments. Specifically, the researchers hypothesized that people who used cannabis after the age of 30 did so primarily for medical reasons. Three phases of analysis were carried out using the method of phenomeno- logical interpretative analysis. The interviews were analyzed first openly, then axially. Once each transcript had been analyzed, a table of 5 superordinate themes was constructed. Triangulation between researchers was carried out at each stage of analysis and after each interview. Data were checked for sufficiency. RESULTS Interviews were conducted with 12 people with a median age of 41. There were 7 women and 3 people with chronic conditions. Their level of education ranged from secondary to tertiary. From the 13 categories identified, 5 super-ordinate themes emerged: 1) Cannabis helps to soothe traumatic experiences; 2) an ambivalent relationship between the user and cannabis, and between the user and those close to him or her; 3) cannabis, likened to a soft drug comparable to al -cool or tobacco, whose demonization was illogical; 4) recreational use as part of experimentation; 5) a paradoxical desire for exemplary parent- hood. their judged.
