Pubdate: Tue, 30 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Express (UK)
Copyright: 2007 Northern and Shell Media Publications
Contact:  http://www.express.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/145
Author: Emily Garnham
Alert: Please Refute Reefer Mania www.mapinc.org/alert/0351.html
Cited: Talking About Cannabis http://www.talkingaboutcannabis.com
Referenced: British Crime Survey 
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1807.pdf
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/skunk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/psychosis (psychosis)

DESPERATE PARENTS DEMAND TOUGHER DRUG LAWS

CANNABIS should urgently be re-instated to a class B drug, parents of 
teenagers whose lives have been devastated by the 'gateway' drug 
claimed tonight.

Members of parental action group Talking About Cannabis, who all have 
experience of living with cannabis-addicted teenagers, warned Britain 
is in the middle of a drug epidemic.

They claim not enough is being done by the Government to make the 
public aware of "scientific and medical facts" about the drug that 
can cause schizophrenia and "primes the brain" for stronger drugs later on.

TAC chairwoman Debra Bell described skunk-cannabis as "one of the 
evils of our time" and recalled watching her eldest son "give up on 
life" after he began using cannabis five years ago, aged just 14: "As 
a family we felt very much alone.

"Our son was saying to us 'It's only cannabis, it's not a big deal. 
Even the Government doesn't think it's a big deal,'" she recalled at 
the House of Commons briefing earlier today.

"We are also asking the Government to fulfil its promise, made in 
2004 at the time cannabis became a class C drug, that we would see a 
'massive and consistent' public health education campaign. Where is 
it? A few TV adverts are not enough."

What parents may not realise is that the cannabis smoked by 
youngsters today is a very different substance to the weed smoked in 
the swinging sixties.

"Skunk" contains high levels of the chemical THC that is known to 
cause hallucinations, paranoid reactions and can lead to a higher 
risk of psychosis and mental health problems.

It also has lower levels of CBD - the substance that relieves anxiety 
and makes you feel chilled out. Professor Robin Murray, of the 
Institute of Psychiatry, likened the difference in potency between 
"traditional" cannabis and skunk, to the difference between drinking 
a pint of beer and a bottle of vodka.

"Not even the more fervent cannabis legaliser would want vodka freely 
available to 13-year-olds. However, skunk is widely available to 
children aged 13 and less" he said.

Mounting pressure to re-classify the drug on the back of growing 
evidence that it causes severe mental problems has been played down 
by the Government in light of the recent British Crime Survey, which 
showed the proportion of 16 to 59-year-olds who admitted using the 
drug over the past 12 months fell for the fourth year running.

But Debra Bell said the "age of initiation" when youngsters first try 
cannabis was falling: "A Home Office survey last year showed a rise 
of one per cent of 11 to 12-year-old boys trying cannabis.

"This was played down by Frank (the Government's drugs awareness 
scheme) but it still constitutes thousands of children...some as 
young as eight."

Although many anti-drug campaigners think that classifying drugs is a 
waste of time Professor Murray said: "By accident, the controversy 
over the re-classification of cannabis provided an opportunity for 
unofficial public education.

"What we need now is a proper education campaign aimed at children."

The USA's twelve year Just Say No anti-drugs campaign resulted in a 
50% decrease in cocaine use and the daily use of cannabis fell by 75%.

Peter Walker, retired head teacher of Abbey School in Kent, was the 
first person to introduce random drug testing in a UK school. 
Speaking at today's conference, he claimed that it was the act of 
testing, rather than the test results that had a positive effect on 
the pupils at his school.

"The children were very happy to take part in the random drug 
testing. In fact, morale in the school was lifted" he said.

"You show me a head teacher who says they don't have a drug problem 
in their school -- you show me a liar."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - who had admitted using cannabis in her 
youth - will consider moving the drug from class C back to class B 
after a new report from the Government's official drug advisers, the 
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake