CRIME GANGS 'EXPLOIT CHANGE IN CANNABIS LAW'

Relaxation of the law on cannabis has fuelled organised crime in the
UK, police chiefs will tell an inquiry panel this week.

The Association of Chief Police Officers will urge the Government to
reverse its decision, taken three years ago, to downgrade the drug
from class B to class C status.

Senior officers will present evidence to a hearing of the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the independent body asked by Gordon
Brown to review the reclassification.

Critics claim that downgrading the drug sent out a "soft" message
about its use.

Simon Byrne, who speaks for ACPO on cannabis and is assistant chief
constable of Merseyside Police, will say that cultivation of cannabis
plants in the UK has soared since the reclassification at the end of 2003.

More than 2,000 cannabis farms in England and Wales have been raided
by police in the past year. Mr Byrne will claim that cannabis has
become a "cash machine" for organised crime.

Experts from the Forensic Science Service will warn that cannabis now
accounts for about three-quarters of all drug-driving cases.

Since 2004, more than 2,070 drivers have been confirmed as having
taken cannabis before driving. Scientists will tell the advisory
council that even small amounts of cannabis can impair driving ability.

A spokeswoman for the road safety charity Brake said the Government
needed to introduce roadside drug breath tests urgently.

"Drug-driving is clearly on the rise and our research has shown that
one-in-11 drivers under the age of 25 have admitted driving after
taking illegal drugs," she said.

Psychiatrists will also present the latest evidence on the effects
that cannabis can have on mental health.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane,
said: "While many people can smoke a joint with no long-term effects,
for some young people regular use can double their risk of developing
schizophrenia, in which a person may hear voices, and experience
strange thoughts and paranoid delusions."