SKUNK OVERTAKES CANNABIS RESIN IN BRITISH DRUGS MARKET AS EXPERTS AND
POLICE DEMAND 'SOFTLY SOFTLY' U-TURN

Highly potent skunk cannabis has overtaken the British market in just
a few years, new official data revealed today.

It comes as an overwhelming alliance of medical, criminal and family
experts have called for the drug's reclassification to be reversed.

The powerful drug has grown from just 15% of the England and Wales
cannabis scene six years ago to a massive 70-80% now, according to
initial results from a Home Office-funded project.

Dr Les King, an adviser to the Home Office Scientific Development
Branch, said several hundred samples seized by police on the streets
in just the last weeks showed levels of skunk, or sinsemilla, had
rocketed, while cannabis resin had slumped from 60-70% of the market
in 2002 to about 20%.

Traditional herbal cannabis now accounts for just 5% of seizures,
compared with 15% six years ago, he added. "The large increase in the
market share of sinsemilla appears to have come about in the last few
years," said Dr King.

The findings were disclosed at a meeting of the Government's official
advisers on drugs policy, which is considering whether cannabis should
be returned to Class B and carry tougher penalties for possession.

Police chiefs are now demanding a Government U-turn over the
"softly-softly" law on cannabis.

They claim that relaxing the law four years ago left a generation of
youngsters confused over the drug's status.

But Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has insisted she still has an open
mind about whether cannabis should be reclassified.

Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD),
Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, said he had received a letter of
reassurance from the Home Secretary after reports that she was
prepared to disregard the committee's recommendations.

The Association of Chief Police Officers will give evidence to an
official inquiry today.

They will set out the case for toughening the law, stepping up
punishments and ending the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of users
who are caught by police being let off with warnings instead of being
arrested.

At the time of the controversial reclassification in 2004, when former
Home Secretary David Blunkett switched cannabis from a Class B to a
Class C drug, senior police chiefs backed the move hoping it would
give officers more time to tackle "hard" drugs including heroin and
cocaine.

Their support was crucial to the Government's decision but, four years
on, the ACPO believes the policy was a mistake, sending out damaging
messages to young drug users, many of whom wrongly believed cannabis
was now legal or no longer harmful.

The Magistrates Association will also call for the law to be
toughened, warning that the courts are filled with growing numbers of
young teenagers stealing to fund cannabis habits.

Today, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will take formal
evidence as part of its latest review, ordered by Gordon Brown last
summer when he moved into 10 Downing Street.

The Prime Minister is thought to favour toughening the law and ending
what critics claim has been a disastrous experiment.

Campaigners point to a mass of new medical evidence which has emerged
in studies around the world since 2004 linking cannabis use more
closely with mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia.

They also point to the growing use of much stronger "skunk" cannabis
varieties, grown on a commercial scale in ordinary houses in the UK
using special hydroponic tanks and artificial lights.

Rival campaigners are calling for full legalisation of cannabis and
other drugs, claiming that taking the trade out of the hands of
criminal gangs is the best way to reduce the harm associated with drug
abuse. David Blunkett, who championed the 2004 re-classification,
warned at the weekend that changing the law again will only lead to
more confusion.

The Advisory Council, made up of 23 experts on the medical, legal and
social impact of drug misuse, is holding two days of evidence sessions
before submitting formal advice to ministers in April.

This is the second time since 2004 that ministers have asked the
council to reconsider cannabis's status, and until now they have
refused to acknowledge that softening the law was a mistake.

Police chiefs now want ministers to consider new UKP80 fixed penalty
notices for those caught with small amounts of cannabis for personal
use.

Currently, most users face only a warning, with no arrest or criminal
record.

Switching the drug back to Class B drugs - alongside amphetamines and
barbiturates - would restore a maximum penalty for possession of five
years in jail.

Tim Hollis, the chief constable of Humberside and chairman of ACPO's
drugs committee, said a "broad consensus" was emerging in favour of
reclassifying cannabis.

He said: "There is growing evidence that the decision to downgrade
from a B to a C drug led to confusion in many people's minds,
particularly young people, about the legal status."

Last week, the Mail revealed a dossier of fresh medical evidence from
recent academic studies around the world, including warnings that 80
per cent of new cases of psychiatric illnesses including cannabis
affect patients who are heavy cannabis smokers.

Studies have undermined the traditional view that cannabis is not an
addictive drug, and found that even small amounts can trigger
schizophrenia-related symptoms including paranoia, hallucinations and
delusions.

Scientists fear that teenagers, whose brains are still developing, are
most at risk of lasting damage from cannabis.

The NHS is treating almost 500 adults and children every week for the
effects of cannabis, recent figures revealed.