FEARS AS SURVEY FINDS SHARP RISE IN TEENAGE CANNABIS USERS

Growing numbers of teenagers are using cannabis, according to a new survey.

The proportion of 14 and 15-year-old males who said they had tried the drug
jumped from 19% in 1999 to 29% in 2001, according to research by the
Schools Health Education Unit.

Cannabis, which is being downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug, was
the only illegal drug not considered to be "always unsafe" by older
children, the unit found.

Reclassifying the drug will mean that being caught in possession by police
will not automatically lead to arrest.

Research published last week suggested people who smoke the drug before
they are 15 are 11 times more likely to develop schizophrenia later in life.

And scientists have said that one cannabis cigarette contains the same
amount of cancer-causing chemicals as five with tobacco in them.

More teenage girls are also smoking cannabis, the health unit annual survey
showed.

In 1999, 18% of 14 and 15-year-old girls said they had smoked it - in 2001,
the proportion was 25%.

The unit questioned 15,881 pupils at 334 primary and secondary schools
around the UK on a range of social, health and education issues.

It found that more teenage boys were using the internet without parental
supervision - raising fears that they could be looking at hard-core
pornography and other unsuitable material.

The proportion of 14-15-year-old boys who said they surfed the internet
with no supervision rose from 55% in 2000 to 67% last year. The health unit
found that 66% of all children now had access to the web, rising to 81% of
14 and 15-year-olds.

Health unit director Dr David Regis said: "The potential exposure of
youngsters to [inappropriate material] has always been a concern. Clearly,
the direction of supervision seems to be not what we would like."

He sounded a "health warning" about the drugs figures, adding that the
schools chosen for the survey changed from year to year, and the rises
could be attributable partly to that.