CANNABIS NO SOFT DRUG: EXPERT

If you do not use it, then you cannot abuse it -- that is the in-your-face
view of cannabis as detailed this week in Toowoomba by a leading brain expert.

Dr John Anderson is a consultant psychophysiologist based in Sydney.

He told students in Toowoomba this week that cannabis was not a soft,
recreational drug that should be legitimised. He also emphasised that while
most people knew of the cancer-causing effects of tabacco, cannabis was
50-70% cent more carcinogenic.

Cannabis was also a major cause of schizophrenia, he said.

From 1993 to 1997 the number of people who presented to psychiatric units
as a resuLt of cannabis-induced psychosis rose from 15% to 26%. There
needed to be greater focus on the health risks of using cannabis. Cannabis
was fat-soluble, sticking like glue to fat protein cells in the brain,
liver and reproductive systems.

Dr Anderson criticised politicians for spending millions of dollars telling
adults about the dangers of tobacco smoking when not one cent went to
educating young people about the cancer dangers of cannabis.

He said the cannabis he smoked in the 1960s as a university student,
compared to today's quality, was like comparing driving a Mini Minor with a
Ferrari.

Dr Anderson and Port Macquarie anti-drugs campaigner Mrs Margaret McKay
have been in Toowoomba for the Keep Our Kids Alive drug awareness week.

Both are passionate about the need for drug education, especially for
adolescents.

They spoke yesterday at the tent in Queens Park and last night at Centenary
Heights State High School auditorium.

Mrs McKay said she was overwhelmed by the welcome she had received in
Toowoomba.

Mrs McKay's anti-drugs crusade had begun when her son David died. His death
ended a 17-year battle with addiction.

She is planning an international drug forum in Port Macquarie next year.