Pubdate: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 Source: Daily Mail (UK) Copyright: 2000 Associated Newspapers Ltd Contact: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ Authors: Beezy Marsh and Matthew Hickley Contact: WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS MAN? Employed as drug tsar, he says that cannabis does not lead to harder drugs. Critics round on Blair's $106,000-a-year adviser KEITH HELLAWELL, the Government's drugs tsar, was condemned yesterday after claiming that cannabis use did not lead to heroin abuse. The former chief constable's comment, in a newspaper interview, came in the wake of a report which revealed that Britain is the cannabis capital of Europe. It fuelled speculation that his three-year contract as Whitehall's most highly-paid adviser may not be renewed next year. His views are out of step with those of Home Secretary, Jack Straw, while the Prime Minister appears to distance himself from the man he appointed, even bypassing him over key policy announcements. In recent months criticism of Mr Hellawell's record has grown, with opponents claiming he has made little difference and lacks the political skills to influence policy. Mr Hellawell, who earns $106,000 a year, insisted there was no research to prove the link between taking cannabis and starting to use harder drugs - the so-called 'gateway effect'. He said: "I have never subscribed to the view that if you take cannabis you end up taking heroin. There's no research I know of that proves the link." Last night eminent drugs expert Professor John Henry, a toxicologist at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, said Mr Hellawell was flying in the face of research and playing into the hands of drug dealers. A study in the medical journal Addiction revealed a clear progression in drug use among 10,000 schoolchildren, starting with alcohol and cigarettes, followed by cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy and heroin. Cannabis use signalled the beginning of dangerous experimentation with harder drugs, health experts in Norway found. Professor henry said: "In saying cannabis does not lead to heroin abuse, he is really is a garbage merchant. What is he trying to achieve by saying that is anybody's guess, but it plays into the hands of the very people who are selling drugs. "We found a definite progression in the unfortunate people we work with every day. This has been backed by recent research which shows a clear sequence in the seriousness of drug use among young people. "These are not middle-class hippies enjoying a smoke. These are children who are very much at risk." Roger Howard, chief executive of the charity Drugscope, said: "No one can say for sure that it is an automatic causative effect - it is like saying the M1 goes to Leeds and therefore anyone who gets on it is definitely going to go there. "But anyone who implies cannabis is harm-free is living in cloud cuckoo-land." Tory home affairs spokesman, David Lidington, said: "This is an extraordinary comment by Keith Hellawell because the relationship between cannabis and hard drugs is well known. "Not every cannabis user moves on to heroin, but the professionals say to me that virtually all addicts on hard drugs started on cannabis." Last week a report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug addiction showed that one in ten British adults admitted using cannabis in the past year - the highest rate in Europe. A 1997 study in the journal Science revealed that cannabis works on the same parts of the brain as other sedatives, including heroin. Doctors and anti-drugs campaigners agree that the majority of heroin users start taking cannabis. The risks of using cannabis are clear. It contains a high level of tar which leads to an increased likelihood of throat, mouth, head and neck cancers, as well as damage to fertility. Last night, a Government spokesman said: "He feel that in terms of the 'a gateway effect' there is no research to show a connection, but from his own personal experiences, people say cannabis gets them on to harder drugs". - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck