Tetouan study finds one in four students at suicide risk, cannabis users 3.55 times more likely

More than a quarter of university students surveyed in northern Morocco showed a suicide risk over the past month, according to a new study by researchers at Abdelmalek Essaâdi University in Tétouan.

The findings, published as a preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, come amid renewed attention to student mental health following the recent death of a student at Rabat’s Institut National de Statistique et d’Économie Appliquée (INSEA).

The study surveyed 1,191 students across six institutions using the standardised M.I.N.I. psychiatric questionnaire. It found a suicidal risk prevalence of 27%. The vast majority, 83.5%, reported suicidal ideation without a plan or attempt.

The issue is not new to Morocco. A 2015 cross-sectional study published in BMC Psychiatry, involving over 3,000 school students in the north-central region, found that 15.7% reported suicidal ideation in the previous month, with cannabis and alcohol use identified as risk factors alongside low family income and parental divorce.

More recently, a 2025 study published in Healthcare surveyed 791 middle and high school students in the Marrakech region and found a suicidal ideation prevalence of 16.66%, with significant correlations to substance use, depression, and childhood trauma.

Cannabis use emerged as the strongest independent risk factor in the Tétouan study. Students who used cannabis were 3.55 times more likely to present a suicidal risk than non-users. Of those identified at risk, 41.7% were cannabis users, compared to 26.1% among non-users.

Five other variables were significantly associated with elevated risk after statistical adjustment. Single students were more than twice as likely to show suicidal risk as married or divorced peers. Students with a criminal record faced a 1.76 times higher risk. A family history of psychiatric illness increased risk by a factor of 1.39. Childhood psychological abuse was associated with a 1.49-fold increase, and childhood sexual abuse with a 1.58-fold increase.

The authors note that cannabis use preceded suicidal risk chronologically, all cannabis-using participants had begun use years before the survey period, suggesting a directional relationship rather than coincidence.

The study’s limitations include a scarcity of comparable local literature and potential underreporting, given cannabis remains illegal in Morocco.