CANNABIS IS REALLY HEAVY AFTER ALL, SAY DOCTORS

THEY are old before their time, wheezing and suffering from some conditions
not usually seen under the age of 60.

The image of cannabis smokers receives the full treatment from the medical
establishment today in a report intended as a "wake-up call" to those who
have been persuaded that the habit is without risk. Three to four joints a
day are as damaging as 20 cigarettes, says the British Lung Foundation. The
smoke contains the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke, a joint deposits four
times as much tar in the lungs as an unfiltered cigarette and the tar from
joints contains 50 per cent more carcinogens.

The report, A Smoking Gun?, says that cannabis smokers suffer significantly
more chronic and acute respiratory symptoms such as coughs, wheezes and
acute bronchitis than non-smokers. Studies report cancers of the airways
and digestive tract in young users. Such cancers are not usually seen in
the under-60s. The report is based on 90 published studies and was put
together with the help of a grant from the Department of Health. Dr Mark
Britton, a consultant at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, and chairman of the
British Lung Foundation, said: "The evidence is not cast-iron but evidence
takes a long time to accumulate. It took 40 years to get evidence showing
tobacco causes lung cancer." The way cannabis is smoked adds to the
dangers, said Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the foundation:
"You inhale deeper and hold your breath with the smoke for longer before
exhaling." Surveys show that many people are convinced that cannabis is a
benign drug. Under plans announced by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary,
it is to be reclassified as a Class C drug. The foundation wants a
government information campaign to alert the public to the dangers.