HOW CANNABIS LED MY BOY TO BECOME A HEROIN ADDICT

CANNABIS has, for decades, been seen in some quarters as nothing more
than a hippy drug. Whether they call it ganja, weed, dope, grass, many
people insist it's a harmless way to unwind.

At one stage it appeared even the Government was leaning towards that
view too - in 2004, laws against cannabis were relaxed. It was
declassified and made a class C drug.

But in recent months alarming evidence has emerged about its
side-effects, particularly the link to psychosis and mental illness -
one modern derivation of cannabis, skunk, is ten times stronger than
the homegrown pot smoked back in the 1960s and '70s.

And last month the chief constable of Merseyside police condemned the
"softly, softly" approach now taken towards cannabis.

Perhaps most worryingly, cannabis may be a gateway drug to addiction
to such substances as heroin and cocaine. Here an Edinburgh mother and
son tell their stories of how one joint led to a three-year battle
with heroin.

The Mother

NEVER did Bernadette* imagine that it could happen to her family. But
the 45-year-old's youngest son Paul* went from being a happy, outgoing
teenager who loved football, golf and skiing to a thug who threatened
them with knives, smashed the windows of their car and regularly stole
from them.

Paul was just 11 when he tried cannabis and he quickly became hooked.
Soon he was smoking the drug every day for hours on end.

"If someone had ever said that Paul would go from that happy boy to
taking drugs, I would have said 'no way'," says the Colinton mother.

"I felt every emotion possible. I was shocked that my son was smoking
hash - but that I could have coped with. You just don't think much of
hash and it's not seen as a big deal.

"It started with small changes in his appearance. He didn't care how
he looked anymore.

"Then things started going missing in the house. It was small things
at first and I didn't think much of it, but then bigger things
disappeared, such as jewellery, DVDs, the PlayStation, even the
televisions."

Paul, just 15, started demanding money too, and became verbally and
physically abusive if he didn't get it. He even stole from his
grandmother and skipped school daily, despite Bernadette and her
husband changing their work patterns so they could drive him to and
from school.

"His moods became really bad and I just didn't understand it," says
Bernadette. "We stopped giving him money because I knew something was
up. I suspected he was taking drugs, but I didn't know what. My
husband and I would ask him but he'd deny it."

What they didn't know was that Paul, at the age of just 14, had moved
from smoking cannabis to taking heroin - and now had a UKP180 a day
habit to feed.

"We kept on asking him if it was drugs and it got to the point where
he couldn't deny it anymore. He had been a fit, healthy boy and he
ended up grey, skinny and spotty, with his hoodie always up. It was
horrible for us to see.

"It got to the stage that we couldn't let him in the house - he would
just steal anything and everything. He stole my wedding ring, mobile
phones, TVs, DVD players, computer games. But still he denied it. My
husband and I were just gutted - we blamed ourselves. We didn't know
where he was, where he was living, what he was doing. I didn't know if
he'd been fed or washed. It was so hard as a mum, I can't begin to
explain."

After Paul was banned from his home, he kept returning to steal. "I
came home from work one day and noticed that the paint was flaking
from the front door. It transpired that he'd put the door in to get
inside while we were out, and the whole frame had come away. So he
could still get access and put the door back afterwards without us
knowing."

She continues: "I became too scared to be away from the house for any
length of time. It badly affected the family. It put a strain on my
marriage, but we were strong enough to get through it. Paul was just a
different person.

"As a parent I questioned myself. Was it my fault? Where did I go
wrong? Even then I didn't know he was on heroin, I assumed it would be
hash," she says. "I haven't got a clue about drugs. You could put them
in front of me and I wouldn't even know.

"Even when he finally told me, I still didn't know how bad it was and
how dangerous it was. But by his appearance and his attitude I sensed
it was bad. I just knew we had to do something about it."

Last summer Bernadette brought her son home and forced him to go "cold
turkey", but he was soon back on heroin. Eventually Bernadette rang
Hype, the Help for Young People in Edinburgh support service.

"We started going to Hype but he wouldn't keep his appointments - it
was so frustrating."

Eventually, however, Paul was prescribed a heroin substitute and he
began detoxifying just six weeks ago. "I've seen a great change in
him," she says. "It'll take a long time to build up the trust, but
we'll get there.

"I've learned so much. I've realised how easy it is to get sucked in.
People need to be made aware of just how rife drug taking is. It's
there even in primary schools. And I blame cannabis for Paul moving on
to heroin. He became addicted to the effect of it and needed a
stronger hit. You can't say hash doesn't lead on to other things." THE
SON

"THE worst thing I stole was a policeman's wallet," admits the
17-year-old. "And the thing I'm most ashamed about was mugging people
and taking women's handbags.

"I did anything I could to fund my habit. I managed to get UKP1000 from
a shop till once and I spent that within two and a half days. I just
didn't care about anything."

Heroin was all Paul thought about for almost three years, not the two
years his mum believes. And his UKP180 daily habit grew from a single
joint which he smoked when he was 11. His older brother gave him it to
try when he was in primary school and he liked the effect. "I was
already smoking by then so I thought, 'why not'?"

He continues: "I started stealing to buy hash within a few months, and
anyone who says hash isn't addictive is lying. It is. I was smoking it
every day, all day. I just liked it - I liked being stoned."

Three years on, when his brother had long since stopped, Paul was
still smoking the drug but he no longer got a hit. And so, a friend
suggested he smoke heroin. "I can't explain what the feeling was like.
It was kind of instantly addictive because of the hit. I started
smoking it every day and within two weeks I was addicted and had
withdrawals if I didn't smoke it.

"I didn't go to school at all. The way I saw it was that if I was
there, I couldn't smoke.

"My parents said I'd changed, but I didn't know. Heroin takes over
your mind and your body. It's the drugs that make you say and do
things. You'll just say and do anything to get your next hit."

His weight had dropped from 11 stone to just eight. His long-term
girlfriend and mother of his baby son was also a heroin user, as were
all his friends.

"I wanted to come off the heroin but I didn't want to stay away from
my girlfriend - but she was on it too. So every time I went to see her
I ended up back on it."

It wasn't until six weeks ago that Paul finally managed to stop,
having been prescribed heroine substitute subutex. He cut all ties
with his social group, ended his relationship with his girlfriend and
moved home.

"Coming off it was horrible. When you see folk coming off it in the
films you think it's an exaggeration, but it's not. The pills have
helped and I just got my first job last week."

And Paul believes that it was the cannabis which led him to the
heroin. "I became addicted to the stoned effect and when I stopped
getting it I moved on to heroin. Other folk did it too - but others
didn't."

*Names have been changed

Some Hard Questions About a 'Soft' Drug

CANNABIS has often been deemed a "soft" drug - compared to "hard"
heroin and cocaine - and in 2004 it was downgraded it from a class B
to a class C illegal drug. Government ministers argued its new status
would give police more scope to tackle hard drugs.

No-one argues that cannabis does not have an effect on the body. It
contains more than 400 chemicals, but the main ingredient is THC which
interferes with the normal brain functions. Users often experience
effects such as talkativeness, cheerfulness, relaxation and
light-headedness.

But argument rages around whether cannabis is dangerous both in itself
- - because of its links to mental illness - and because it leads to the
taking of other drugs, such as heroin.

Earlier this month, an 18-year-old was detained in a mental health
unit after stabbing a grandmother to death in London while high on
skunk, a high-strength form of cannabis. Less than a month before, a
school cleaner who had repeatedly smoked cannabis was found guilty of
murdering his two friends in a knife attack in Berkshire.

Experts say cannabis use in those under 18 doubles the risk of
psychosis and studies show an increased instance of schizophrenia in
users.

And the link between cannabis and class A drugs is becoming stronger.
Last month, Lothian and Borders Police arrested more than 80 suspected
drug dealers. Drugs recovered included heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

And last September and October saw UKP11,000 worth of drugs seized, with
cannabis sitting side by side with heroin and cocaine.