Pubdate: Th, 19 Feb 1998 Source: The Scotsman Author: Jennifer Trueland, Health Correspondent Website: http://www.scotsman.com Contact: BLOCKED REPORT SAYS CANNABIS SAFER THAN TOBACCO AND DRINK THE illegal drug cannabis is safer than tobacco and alcohol, according to a report which was suppressed by the World Health Organisation. The analysis, which was due to be part of a report published last December on the harmful effects of cannabis, was withdrawn at the last minute after a dispute between WHO officials, the cannabis experts who drafted it and external advisers. According to New Scientist magazine, the suppressed report concluded that not only did the amount of cannabis smoked worldwide do less harm to public health than drink and cigarettes, but that the same was likely to hold true even if people consumed it on the same scale as the legal substances. In most of the comparisons made in the analysis, cannabis came out better or at least equal to the other drugs. In an editorial, New Scientist said that decriminalisation of cannabis was inevitable. "Politicians will have to bite the bullet - dope will be decriminalised," it said. Last night a Home Office spokesman said that the Government did not intend to review the position of cannabis, which is a controlled drug. The House of Lords has started its own inquiry, however, and a two-year investigation into the drug is being carried out by the Police Foundation. But the evidence led to renewed calls for cannabis to be decriminalised. Linda Hendry, Scottish spokeswoman for the Legalise Cannabis Campaign, said: "The New Scientist is saying what we already knew - that cannabis is not as harmful as other drugs like tobacco and alcohol. We welcome their findings and hope it adds to the debate." The New Scientist also publishes data from the Netherlands, where possession of small amounts of cannabis was legalised in 1976. According to results, although more people tried cannabis after it was legalised, the move did not increase the likelihood of people becoming long-term users. Holland also had a lower percentage of cannabis and hard drug users than many other European countries, including Britain. The study also showed the number of hard drug addicts in Holland had not increased for a decade while their average age was rising. The New Scientist said the controversial analysis was withdrawn because there were fears that it would give ammunition to the "legalise marijuana" campaign. It is understood that advisers from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and the UN International Drug Control Programme warned the WHO that it would play into the hands of groups campaigning to legalise marijuana, said the report. Dr Maristela Monteiro, a scientist with the WHO programme on substance abuse, confirmed that the analysis was dropped from the report but denied the organisation had been pressured into doing it. She said: "There were problems with that chapter. It was not a fair comparison from our point of view and from a public health perspective it was not very useful. We thought it was biased towards showing less harm from cannabis." She said the WHO was working with the Addiction Research Foundation in Canada and planned to publish a book on cannabis in June. The report also sparked repeated calls for further research into the potential effects of decriminalising cannabis. The British Medical Association, last year called for more research into the use of certain derivatives of cannabis for medicinal use., following some anecdotal evidence that the drug can help people with conditions including glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. The Church of Scotland yesterday repeated its call for cannabis to be decriminalised. Ann Allen, convener of the board of social responsibility, said: "We do not want cannabis to be legalised but we wish to see those who have been caught taking it to be diverted from the criminal justice system and into rehabilitation programmes." A spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: "We welcome the study and would call on people to look calmly at it and make a reasoned judgment." "We feel there should be a Royal Commission on drugs. We are the only party who has considered the issue seriously at all, and not just gone for the emotional line of instantly dismissing any idea that it should even be discussed. "That, of course, stops short of any idea that it should definitely be decriminalised." Peter Wishart, the Scottish National Party spokesman on drugs, said: "The SNP believe there's a case to be made for the decriminalisation of cannabis, but it is not an argument we are convinced by at this stage.