CANNABIS RECLASSIFIED

By the end of January 2004, it will no longer be an arrestable offence
to possess cannabis. What impact will this have on the South? The
Politics Show investigates.

With cannabis on the verge on re-classification from Class C to B, we
ask - what message about drug use is this sending to young people?
What impact will it have on society?

What are the links between cannabis and mental illness? Cannabis
continues to attract big headlines in our region. In the last couple
of years at least four cannabis cafes have sprung up on the coast.
Police action They did not last; their attempt to enforce social
change from the bottom up was ground to dust by a combination of
police retaliation and local opposition.

Last week Kent Police released six men on bail whilst they launch an
investigation into a sophisticated cannabis factory. Around 1,500
plants, with a street value of more than UKP 1m, were discovered in
the building at Marden near Maidstone.

On the same day Chris Baldwin, 53, the founder of two cannabis cafes
in Worthing, was sent to jail for six months.

The Politics Show visits one of Mr Baldwin's cafes in East Worthing.
With the help of Dutch retailers and local friends Mr Baldwin set up
an illegal cannabis cafe. Sussex police adopted a zero tolerance
approach, as did Worthing East MP Tim Loughton (con). Eventually it
was shut down. We talk to Sarah Chalk of the Legalise Cannabis
Alliance in Sussex about her reaction to the incarceration of Mr
Baldwin, her former boss. Sarah used to manage Buddies and still
believes the cafe provided "a valuable community service".

Cannabis in the Netherlands What lessons can we learn from this
abortive attempt, and from legal cannabis cafes in the
Netherlands?

Politics Show Reporter Chris Coneybeer visits Amsterdam to explore the
social impact of the Dutch drugs policy.

He talks to Harald Wychgel, spokesman for the Trimbos Institute of
Mental Health and Addiction, who believes they have succeeded in
restricting the use of dangerous drugs.

Without the need to visit drug pushers, the link between cannabis
users and hard drugs has weakened.

Mr Wychgel claims that cannabis doubles the risk of schizophrenia and
other psychiatric conditions. Cannabis use leads to 200 additional
cases of schizophrenia each year in the Netherlands, according to his
study. And of the 400,000 Dutch youngsters who regularly smoke
cannabis, 400 will fall victim to psychiatric difficulties or
schizophrenia. This is certainly the concern of mental illness charity
SANE, whose staff strongly believe there is a growing link between
cannabis and psychosis. We speak to Chief Executive, Marjorie Wallis,
who said; Each study that emerges is building a large body of evidence
showing just how dangerous cannabis can be for those who are
vulnerable to psychotic illness. For those individuals, what may be a
common way of chilling out may set them on a journey of mental
disintegration and damaged lives.

The Politics Show What do you think?