Expérimentation du cannabis chez des élèves d’ULIS avec déficience cognitive

Globally, current inclusive education policies allow students with cognitive disorders to participate in community/school life, however, such an increasing exposition might raise their level of detrimental behaviours as well, namely substance use. This study aims to: 1) describe cannabis experimentation rates among cognitively impaired adolescents schooled in special units (ULIS) in junior high-schools, compared to mainstream students; and 2) to explore factors associated with substance experimentation among ULIS students. A cross-sectional experimental study adapted from the international HBSC/WHO questionnaire was conducted among 700 ULIS students with a mean age of 14.2 years and 7023 students in mainstream junior high-school (mean age: 13.6). Only students aged 14 or more were considered in the analyses (382 ULIS students; 2642 mainstream junior high-school students). The proportion of students in inclusive education enrolled in ULIS who have already experimented cannabis is not as high as among their non-disabled peers (9.1% among ULIS students vs . 20.9% among mainstream junior high-school students), yet is far from being negligible. Thus, to have epidemiological data on cannabis experimentation in intellectually disabled students is crucial to adapt interventions and policies to the cognitive level and specificities of this group of adolescents, in order to increase their chances and opportunities later in adulthood.