Pubdate: Sun, 22 Apr 2007
Source: Independent on Sunday (UK)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/208
Author: Jonathan Owen
Cited: Transform Drugs Policy Foundation http://www.tdpf.org.uk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/source/Independent+on+Sunday

HEAVY CANNABIS USE BY TEENS IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN ALCOHOL

Ten-Year Study Finds Long-Term Users Have Problems With Work and in 
Relationships

People who start using cannabis as teenagers are more likely than 
drinkers to suffer from mental illness, have relationship problems, 
and fail to get decent qualifications or jobs, according to a new 
study by academics.

"Cannabis really does look like the drug of choice for life's future 
losers," says Professor George Patton, who conducted the 10-year 
study that followed the fortunes of 1,900 schoolchildren until they 
were 25. "It's the young people who were using cannabis in their 
teens who were doing really badly in terms of their mental health. 
They were also less likely to be working, have qualifications or be 
in a relationship and more likely to be taking other drugs."

The 10-year study is the first of its kind to compare drinkers with 
cannabis users. Almost two-thirds of people had tried cannabis before 
they turned 18.

Heavy users of the drug were between three and six times more likely 
to use other drugs, compared with drinkers, less likely to be in a 
stable relationship and up to three times more likely than drinkers 
to have dropped out of education or be unemployed.

The results reflect the changing use and attitudes to cannabis by 
teenagers, according to Professor Patton. "Twenty or 30 years ago, 
cannabis was uncommonly used by teenagers," he said. "Alcohol use is 
still more prevalent, but cannabis use has become widespread in many 
countries."

The findings, from Melbourne University's Centre for Adolescent Heath 
and published in the current issue of Addiction journal, come after 
the health risks of cannabis were highlighted by The Independent on 
Sunday last month.

The debate intensified last week following a report by the newly 
launched UK Drug Policy Commission, which revealed how Britain 
remains in the grip of a serious drug problem. It says that one in 
four people in their late twenties have tried heroin or cocaine at 
least once and that nearly half of all young people have used 
cannabis. Britain's drug addiction rate is more than twice that of 
France, Germany, Sweden or Holland.

More than 22,000 people needed treatment for cannabis use in Britain 
last year. The number of emergency hospital admissions due to 
cannabis has almost doubled in five years - from 581 in 2001 to 
nearly 1,000 last year. Britain's teenagers are most at risk as the 
drug acts on the developing brain, according to leading experts.

Concerns have spread to some of Britain's top teachers amid worries 
that it is joints and not cigarettes that are now most likely to be 
smoked during breaks.

In response, Dr Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College, 
Berkshire, held a conference on Friday. Dozens of the country's top 
schools, including Harrow, Bedales, Kingston Grammar and Uppingham, 
met senior police officers and experts from drugs and mental health charities.

"Most schools are in a muddle about how to deal with drugs," said Dr 
Seldon. "We know the problem is growing and about the new evidence 
linking cannabis to schizophrenia. But the absence of clear 
guidelines on what to do, or a clear message from the Government that 
cannabis is dangerous, does not help us."

But drug reform organisation Transform says that legalisation of 
cannabis is the way forward. A spokesman said: "It is precisely 
because drugs are dangerous that they need to be appropriately 
regulated rather than be left in the hands of criminal profiteers." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake