FORMER DRUGS CZAR: MY CANNABIS FEARS WERE RIGHT

The fight against the mental harm cannabis can cause was put back a
generation when it was downgraded.

The claim comes from Huddersfield-based Keith Hellawell - the former Drugs
Czar who resigned as a specialist Government adviser over the issue in
2002 when it was first mooted. And he is still angry that cannabis was
ever declassified.

Speaking exclusively to the Examiner as cannabis is due to be regraded
tomorrow from Class C to Class B, he revealed that his decision has been
totally vindicated, especially as he was the architect of the three
strikes and you're out system of punishments the Government is now
promoting.

Police should now issue a warning to anyone caught with cannabis for a
first offence and give second time offenders an ?80 fine and penalty
notice.

Anyone given a third "strike" will be arrested and could face an unlimited
fine and a prison sentence of up to five years.

Mr Hellawell feels the decision to downgrade cannabis from class B to C
badly weakened good work going on in schools to warn youngsters about its
dangers.

The average age for youngsters to first try the drug is now 13.

Mr Hellawell - the former Chief Constable of West Yorkshire - also
stressed that people who use cannabis are more likely to go on to take
hard drugs leading to serious crimes.

He said: "I've met people serving life in prison for all kinds of serious
crimes, including murder, and not one supported the declassification of
cannabis.

"They have lost everything - their liberty and their families - and many
blame cannabis for the beginning of their downfall."

He said a study in New Zealand revealed that people who smoke cigarettes
are 60 times more likely to try cannabis and people who then smoke
cannabis are 60 times more likely to get involved in hard drugs.

Mr Hellawell said: "I'm not saying that everyone who smokes will smoke
cannabis and then take hard drugs.

"What this study shows is that they are more likely to do that. This is
why part of the anti-drugs strategy I introduced focussed so heavily on
schoolchildren and stopping them smoking in the first place.

"All that work that was being done in schools was put back because of the
whim of one politician, the then Home Secretary David Blunkett, and has
put that educational message back so many years. It will now take us to
the next generation to get the message right and for the young people to
believe that message.

"A great deal of confusion has been created since cannabis was
declassified in January 2004 and undermined the dangers associated with
cannabis."

He said the declassification had sent out the wrong message.

"Most people in this country abide by the laws even if they don't agree
with them," said Mr Hellawell.

"After what happened to cannabis, the message came across that it was not
dangerous, which was a false message. People who would never have dreamed
of using cannabis then tried it."

Mr Hellawell revealed that as Drugs Czar and working with the Association
of Chief Police Officers, he had originally come up with the three strikes
and you're out rule and revealed that it fell at the final hurdle for
purely political reasons.

He said his proposal was passed by the Cabinet - but then the Tories came
up with a similar idea and Mr Hellawell said the Government dropped it so
as not to be seen to be following a Tory scheme.

He believes David Blunkett's decision to reclassify cannabis from class B
to class C has put back the fight against cannabis 10 years or more.

"Skunk cannabis has been around for many years and it has always had
psychotic effects, especially with young people.

"The idea that this is something new is simply nonsense.

"Goodness knows how they allowed Blunkett to introduce this at the time.
I'm sure no-one really supported him. Now it's being changed back as a
matter of political expediency to avoid embarrassment. "This is why I have
lost faith in politicians."

In West Yorkshire the strength of cannabis is higher than average.

West Yorkshire Police's force drugs coordinator Bryan Dent - who was a
detective inspector in Huddersfield - said that since cannabis was
reclassified in 2004 its strength had gone up and organised crime gangs
had become involved in cultivating it.

In recent years huge 'cannabis factories' - some growing drugs with a
street value of ?250,000 - have been uncovered in Huddersfield and West
Yorkshire.

In Kirklees last year police found 98 'cannabis factories' out of 520 for
the county.

Mr Dent said: "These numbers were significantly less before the
reclassification and it may be organised crime gangs have got involved
because they believed cannabis had gone under the police radar. "Cannabis
was reclassified in 2004 to allow the police to concentrate on targeting
class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine."

He said at that time the cannabis strength - known as its
tetra-hydro-cannibol (THC) ingredient was 6%, but by last spring this
potency had risen to 16% nationally and 22% in West Yorkshire.

Mr Dent added: "This caused the debate regarding mental health issues such
as schizophrenia and paranoia, which is why Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
wanted to look at the issue again.

"The THC has fuelled the argument, especially in terms of children and the
effect it can have while their brains are developing.

"They are especially vulnerable if there is a predisposition for mental
illness within the family and people are using cannabis alongside
alcohol."

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell has warned the average age of
first-time cannabis users is just 13.

"Cannabis is a harmful drug and while fewer people are taking it than
before, it poses a real risk to the health of those who do use it," he
said.

"I am extremely concerned about the use of stronger cannabis - skunk - and
the harm it can cause to mental health.

"We are reclassifying cannabis to protect the public and future generations.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said:
"SANE has been campaigning for many years over the mounting evidence of
direct links between cannabis and later schizophrenia."