MERSEY CONFERENCE ON USE OF CANNABIS

Liverpool Will Host A Major Conference On Cannabis Tomorrow.

It comes just days after Tony Blair said school heads are to be given
new powers to order pupils to undergo random drugs tests.

The Prime Minister said head teachers would be issued with new
guidance on how to deal with pupils they suspect are taking drugs
including provisions for spot testing pupils.

The conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the city centre will
welcome experts in the field to give insight into the drug debate. On
January 29 this year, cannabis was reclassified from a Class B to a
Class C drug.

That move has fuelled renewed interest in the topic and the conference
brings together experts to provide information about key aspects of
that debate.

It has been organised by the Liverpool-based health advice service HIT
along with Liverpool John Moores University's Centre of Public Health.

Andrew Bennett, director of HIT, is giving one of the speeches at the
conference.

He said: "We have got a wide selection of different speakers,
including the Chief Constable of Norfolk who is speaking about the
policing of the drug.

"Cannabis is the most well used drug in Britain today so we need to be
able to be informed about the dangers and also ideas on how to manage
the drug." Among the people making speeches at the conference is
Oxford Professor Les Iverson who is speaking about the drug's safety
record.

The medical director of GW Pharmaceuticals, Dr Philip Robson, will
speak on the possible therapeutic effects of the drug.

A Know Cannabis information campaign on Merseyside and Cheshire will
feature messages on billboards, buses, radio adverts and booklets
aimed at young people.

It gives the message that the drug is still illegal with possession
carrying a maximum sentence of two years, reduced from five.

The maximum penalty for supplying cannabis is still 14 years in
prison. Under the new law, which marked the biggest change in drug
legislation in 30 years, cannabis possession will be illegal but will
"ordinarily not be an arrestable offence".

But people can be prosecuted for possessing the drug in aggravating
circumstances, such as smoking it in public.

HIT is an agency designed to give advice and guidance on drugs,
community safety and health concerns.

Established in 1985 to reduce drug-related harm, it produces
literature and a reference library for individuals and community groups.