DOCTORS CONDEMN PLAN TO DOWNGRADE CANNABIS

DOCTORS' leaders last night condemned the Government's plan to reclassify
cannabis as a class C drug in the light of new evidence on its safety.

The British Medical Association said that the move, due to come into effect
next week, sent out "all the wrong messages" to people thinking of
experimenting with cannabis.

It also called for ministers to keep the classification of cannabis under
"constant review" and to consider moving it back to class B as new evidence
on its safety comes to light.

The BMA move comes weeks after The Times highlighted growing concerns
within the medical community about links between cannabis and psychiatric
illness.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, announced in 2002 that he intended to
reclassify the drug after a lengthy examination of drugs policy by the
Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs and the Advisory Council on the
Misuse of Drugs. It will still be an offence from January 29 to possess,
cultivate or supply cannabis, but the maximum sentence for possession will
fall from five years to two.

Robin Murray, head of psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, has told
The Times that inner-city psychiatric ser-vices were nearing a crisis
point, with up to 80 per cent of all new psychotic cases reporting a
history of cannabis use.

He said that new evidence had since come to light proving that people who
used cannabis in their teens were up to seven times more likely to develop
psychosis, delusional episodes or manic depression.

"Unfortunately, there were no experts in psychosis on the committees that
advised the Government," he said. "Since then, there have been at least
four studies that show the use of cannabis, particularly in young people,
can significantly increase the likelihood of the onset of psychosis."

The BMA said in its first public contribution to the debate yesterday that
it was extremely concerned that by reclassifying cannabis the Government
was sending out the message to the public that the drug was safer than
previously thought.

Peter Maguire, deputy chairman of the BMA's board of science, said that
cannabis was not only more carcinogenic than cigarettes but that many other
health risks were still unclear. "We do not support this decision because
we feel it sends out all the wrong messages," he said.

"While we are in favour of the work being done by the Medical Research
Council to examine the pain-relieving qualities of cannabis, you have to
remember it is a compound of more than 400 elements.

"Some of those may be beneficial but we do know that chronic cannabis
smoking increases the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis and
emphysema."

Dr Maguire said that he wanted the Government to keep the decision under
constant review and to be prepared to reclassify cannabis as a class B drug.

Mr Blunkett has said that the change in the law was needed to enable police
to spend more time tackling class A drugs such as heroin and crack, which
caused the most harm and far more crime.

A UKP1 million government campaign using leaflets and newspaper and radio
advertisements starts tomorrow to underline that cannabis remains illegal.