WHY THE DRUGS REALLY DON'T WORK

We know that cannabis is the drug of choice among most young people.
Those who use it argue that it is relatively safe, but the evidence
shows that they are deluding themselves.

Users can get hooked on the drug and it can cause long term mental
health problems. The recent reclassification of the drug to Class B
sends out a mixed message, that somehow it does not carry the same
risks at other, so-called hard drugs.

Those who treat habitual users tell a very different story. Drug
counsellors have revealed a very disturbing picture of cannabis abuse
in the province. Children as young as nine have been treated for
problems associated with the drug.

That is a shocking statistic. Any parent with a nine-year-old child
will be astounded that he or she could be a frequent drug user. It
would be shocking enough to know that they had smoked a cigarette at
that age, but to accept that some nine year olds take cannabis sets a
new moral low for our society.

One of the advantages of cannabis from a user's perspective is that
it is relatively cheap, apparently going for ?20 a bag. Children are
binge smoking the drug just as others are binge drinking.

The real danger of cannabis is to young people whose brains have not
yet matured. And, inevitably they move onto harder varieties of the
drug such as skunk, which is much more toxic.

One drug counsellor describes the future mental health problems
caused by cannabis as a ticking time-bomb.

Official statistics show that out of 186 under-18s

treated for drug problems, 142 cases involved cannabis. But this is
only the tip of the iceberg. Given that thousands of young people
regularly use the drug, it would be wildly optimistic to imagine that
the official statistics cover all who desperately need help.

One group of counsellors in Ballymena are currently treating 50 young
people for the effects of cannabis, while another organisation is
seeking around 20 referrals a week.

It has to be remembered that those are only the people who want to be
helped or who have been en

couraged to seek help. Many others are blissfully smoking away ­
according to one GP cannabis is now being used just like tobacco ­
unaware of the problems they are creating for themselves. But even at
the tender age of 21 or 22 they are already displaying some of the
mental ill-health symptoms associated with drug abuse.

The health problems of cannabis misuse are exacerbated by the fact
that no-one is quite sure what the young people are smoking.

Habitual users say that all sorts of ingredients are mixed with the
drug to retain it "high" performance, but these ingredients can be
much more dangerous than the small amount of cannabis actually sold.
Drug peddlers have no scruples and care nothing for the long-term
health of those they get hooked on drugs of any variety.

Young people must realise that every time they use cannabis ­ or any
other drug ­ they are playing Russian roulette with their health and
the effects are likely to be apparent sooner rather than later.