ALL THE DANGERS OF TOBACCO USE WITH THE 'BONUS' OF MENTAL HEALTH RISKS

Cannabis is undoubtedly safer than cocaine or heroin but campaigners
for decriminalisation rarely talk about its risks to health.

The adverse effects for regular users, and the medicinal benefits for
patients with chronic diseases, are still not fully proven, partly
because the drug has more than 4,090 active ingredients. But there is
mounting evidence that cannabis can provoke severe anxiety and mental
illness, impair reaction times and co-ordination skills and do more
damage to the lungs than cigarettes.

Cannabis users take the drug because of its mildly sedative effect,
which leads to lower blood pressure, feelings of relaxation and
increased sociability. But if cannabis is smoked, users have all the
long-term risks of tobacco, such as mouth and lung cancers, bronchitis
and increased risk of heart attacks. Modern plant-breeding techniques
mean that cannabis has become far more powerful than in the 1960s and
some experts now claim that smoking a joint is five times more
damaging to the lungs than cigarettes.

In some first-time users, the drug can provoke anxiety, panic and
suspicion, and in extreme cases, the drug can precipitate or aggravate
schizophrenic attacks. Long-term side effects include distorted
perception, slower reaction times, impaired co-ordination and driving
skills and lack of motivation. Other studies suggest that young men
who regularly take cannabis are more violent.

More adults use cannabis in Britain than any other country in Europe
and almost half of all school-leavers are thought to have smoked the
drug.

Sufferers of multiple sclerosis and other degenerative illnesses have,
for many years, hailed cannabis as the best way of overcoming chronic
pain and acute muscle spasms.

In 1997, the British Medical Association concluded that the drug
helped people with MS. There was also limited evidence that it was
beneficial in epilepsy, glaucoma, asthma, high blood pressure and in
the weight loss associated with Aids.

The Government has said it is awaiting the results of two further
clinical trials before deciding whether cannabis extracts should be
prescribed.

Dr Claire Gerada, head of the Royal College of General Practitioners'
drugs misuse training programme, said: "I think it is a good thing not
to imprison and criminalise young people. But I would like the public
to understand that cannabis is not without risk.

"We have so many deaths from tobacco and alcohol abuse, please let's
not go down the same route with cannabis."