NUMBER OF PEOPLE TREATED FOR CANNABIS USE SOARS BY 50 PER CENT SINCE
THE DRUG WAS DOWNGRADED

The number of adults being treated for cannabis use has risen by 50
per cent since Labour downgraded the drug to Class C.

The Government's decision to reclassify the drug has seen the number
of adults seeking medical help for its effects rise to more than
16,500 in the past year.

Cannabis misuse also accounts for 75 per cent of under-18s who
require treatment for drug use, with 9,200 children needing medical
aid for its use.

A total of 25,944 people sought cannabis treatment at hospitals and
clinics last year - almost 500 adults and children a week.

Drug campaigners said the latest figures, revealed in a parliamentary
question, proved the Government's "softly, softly" approach to
cannabis was sending out the wrong signals.

Since Labour downgraded the drug from Class B to Class C in 2004,
users no longer even face automatic arrest.

Instead, police officers can simply give out a formal warning for
cannabis possession on the street.

Around 66,000 such warnings were issued in 2006.

If the drug is reclassifed Class B, the formal warning system would
be scrapped and users would face arrest and the humiliation of being
taken to a police station.

Campaigners hope this would be enough to deter people from trying the
drug in the first place, and send out a strong message of the harm it can do.

The latest health authority figures show that 16,685 adults sought
treatment for cannabis use in 2006-7, compared with just 11,057 two
years earlier, a 50 per cent rise.

In August, health experts said a single joint of cannabis raises the
risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent.

A Government-commissioned report also found that taking the drug
regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.

Overall, cannabis could be to blame for one in seven cases of
schizophrenia and other life-shattering mental illness, the Lancet reported.

Last November, official figures showed that Labour's policy on
cannabis had led to a 14 per cent rise in drug-related crime.

The main reason for the increase was a surge in possession of cannabis.

Campaigners said it was clear more and more youngsters were getting
into trouble by using the drug, which it was downgraded four years ago.

Government figures recorded 55,000 drug offences from April to June
2007 - up from 48,300 in the previous year.

The Magistrates' Association also reported last year that the
Government's decision to downgrade the criminal status of cannabis in
2004 has produced a boom in youth crime, notably among 12 and 13-year-olds.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "These numbers in treatment
reflect the massive improvements that have been made over the past
few years in engaging more people in effective drug treatment.

"In terms of cannabis, we have seen both through the Department of
Health's School Survey and the Home Office's British Crime Survey a
reduction in cannabis use across all age groups."