Pubdate: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 Source: Mail on Sunday, The (UK) Copyright: 2014 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Contact: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/255 Author: Jonathan Petre Page: 47 HUGE RISE IN SKUNK-TRIGGERED ILLNESS YOUNG people are being treated in record numbers for mental health problems which have been caused by cannabis. Official figures show more than 5,000 under-25s were treated for addiction and psychiatric problems with the drug over the past year. Experts believe the rise has been caused by new strains of cannabis - known as skunk - which are more potent than those grown in the past. And they say the alarming figures might have been even worse were it not for the overall numbers of cannabis users falling. Just 15 per cent of 16- to 24-yearolds smoked the drug last year, down from a peak of 28 per cent in 1998. The figures from Public Health England show 5,039 youngsters aged 18 to 24 started treatment for problems connected with cannabis last year - a rise of 51 per cent on the 3,328 who sought help eight years ago. The statistics also reveal that 43 per cent of under-25s entering drug treatment programmes sought help for cannabis use, compared with just 18 per cent eight years ago. At the same time, youngsters being helped for heroin addiction has fallen from 40 per cent to 16 per cent, and for heroin and crack from 21 per cent to 11 per cent. Addiction experts say the cannabis figures can be traced to powerful new strains of the drug entering the market. In the past, it would have been grown in basement conditions under normal lights. But growers are now engineering strains using much more powerful lighting, with some cannabis having up to 24 per cent levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), its primary psychoactive compound. Dr Owen Bowden-Jones, a specialist in addictions based at the Priory Hospital in Roehampton, South-West London, said: 'The number of under-25s entering treatment for cannabis is rising. 'Compared to a few decades ago, the cannabis being sold is generally considerably more potent, with higher concentrations of the psychoactive chemicals. 'We are also seeing the use of synthetic cannabinoids, some of which appear to be much stronger than even the strongest herbal cannabis. 'Anecdotal evidence suggests the synthetics can cause more physical and psychiatric problems.' - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom