HOW DANGEROUS IS CANNABIS?

When cannabis was reclassifed in 2004, many viewed the move as
recognition that the drug was far less harmful than others.

Indeed, while its current classification means it remains very much
illegal, condemnation of perceived "scaremongering" about its
potential harmful effects has continued.

But those claims are coming under increasing scrutiny against a
backdrop of medical evidence which suggests cannabis can actually
trigger a number of harmful psychological effects.

Another common argument is that use of the drug can lead to much
harder narcotics, such as cocaine or heroin. Again that view has its
share of critics.

But some recovering addicts argue that it HAS put them on a slippery
slope to much harder drugs. Jack (not his real name) was just 12 when
took his first drag on a cannabis joint.

Hanging around his hometown of Leyland with friends, like hundreds of
others he thought dabbling in the drug would simply be a harmless laugh.

Little did he know that it would lead to a near-decade-long battle
against a crippling addiction to hard narcotics.

It is only now - aged 20 and recovering still - that he can
appreciate how easy it was to go from a few joints to an addiction
which robbed him of many of his teenage years.

Just a year after taking his first cannabis 'hit' he had already
moved on to much harder drugs. Speed and cocaine were becoming part
of his life.

He was getting many of the drugs from his older brother, while paying
for his cannabis hit with his UKP13 paper round money.

At 16, when most teenagers are preparing for their GCSEs, he owed
UKP3,000 to drug dealers who one day decided to teach him a lesson -
and gave him a severe beating.

"Basically, don't even go there because it makes you really paranoid
after a period of time and it doesn't help you, it just makes you a
lot worse and it hurts the people around you," he warns.

"It affects people in different ways. For me, it led me to other
drugs. I started smoking cannabis just because I thought it was nice,
but it just knackered me really.

"It all started through cannabis. I was about 12 years old and it was
through people I was always hanging around with."

According to statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring
System (NDTMS), in 2005-06 126 under-18s in the Cumbria and
Lancashire Strategic Health Authority area were referred for drug
treatment in a bid to stop them taking cannabis.

Last year a further 1,949 under-18s across the newly-formed North
West SHA area, which includes Lancashire, were given treatment for
use of the drug.

Downgrading cannabis to a Class C drug effectively placed it
alongside the likes of steroids and some prescription
anti-depressants. Possession can lead to a two-year prison sentence,
but charges are rarely brought against people found with small quantities.

Many opposition politicians claim the figures show the Government's
decision to reclassify four years ago has been a failure.

Fylde Conservative MP Michael Jack explains: "I would say it is an
experiment which should never have started. Having been in charge of
Home Office drugs policy when I was a Home Office minister I'm afraid
drugs are an area where you can't compromise."

However, independent narcotics experts DrugScope argue the NDTMS
figures do not prove problems associated with the drug are spiralling
out of control.

And as for whether cannabis can lead to harder drugs, the answer
appears far from simple.

The number of cannabis users in the UK far exceeds users of other
drugs, so clearly not everyone who tries a joint ends up hooked on
harder substances.

In addition, the Department for Health argue the increase in people
seeking treatment should be seen as a victory for improving standards
in drug treatment.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, says: "Government
published research shows that for the majority of people, using
cannabis does not lead to the use of other substances - the so-called
'gateway' effect.

For example, most heroin users may have used cannabis first - it is a
much more commonly used drug - but most cannabis users will not go on
to use heroin.

"There has been a downward trend in the numbers of people using
cannabis across all age groups. This trend began before the
reclassification of the drug and it has continued in the period since
the law was changed.

"At face value, the statistics on the numbers of people seeking drug
treatment for cannabis use do appear concerning. But without knowing
the background to the numbers, it's hard to come to conclusions about
exactly what they mean.

"Drug treatment has expanded significantly and there are more
opportunities for people to come forward for help and support. There
is an issue as to when people are counted as 'being in treatment'.

"Some drug treatment services may, for example, count someone as
being 'in treatment' even if they have simply had a relatively
informal chat with a drug worker about their drug use."

But stories like Jack's are common, and as one who battled drugs for
almost a decade, he knows better than most the misery of addiction.

And it all started, he says, with cannabis.