Abuse of cannabis puts 500 a week in hospital

The public health impact of the Government's decision to downgrade cannabis is disclosed today in official figures showing a 50 per cent rise in the number of people requiring medical treatment after using the drug.

Since cannabis was downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug, the number of adults being treated in hospitals and clinics in England for its effects has risen to more than 16,500 a year. In addition, the number of children needing medical attention after smoking the drug has risen to more than 9,200.Doctors say cannabis abuse can contribute to a series of mental health problems


Almost 500 adults and children are treated in hospitals and clinics
every week for the effects of cannabis.Its health toll is revealed in official data compiled by health authorities and obtained by The Daily Telegraph.

Drug campaigners last night said the figures proved Labour's decision to reclassify cannabis in January 2004, which made the penalties for its possession less severe, was badly mistaken and had sent out the wrong signals about it being a "soft" drug.

Doctors say cannabis abuse can contribute to mental health problems
including forms of psychosis, paranoia and schizophrenia. There can be
harmful physical side-effects, disrupting blood pressure and
exacerbating heart and circulation disorders. The data will add to the pressure on Gordon Brown to reverse its reclassification when a review of the decision by Home Office scientific advisers concludes in the Spring.

Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, a leading campaigner on drug issues since her son, Nick Mills, killed himself in despair at his addiction four years ago, said: "These results are shocking and dreadful. What more evidence do you need? You cannot sweep this under the carpet any longer. Children have to be told of the dangers of this what is wrongly called a young minds."

James Clappison, a Conservative member of the Commons home affairs
committee, said: "The reclassification of cannabis sent the wrong
message and was clearly the wrong decision. These figures show the
evident dangers of cannabis abuse and support the case for the drug
being restored to Category B."

The health authority figures show that 16,685 adults were treated by
English hospital trusts after abusing cannabis in 2006-07. The previous
year, it was 14,828 - up from 11,057 in 2004-05.

The data also shows that the number of children treated for using
cannabis has risen from 8,014 in 2005-06 to 9,259 last year. In total,
25,944 people were treated for cannabis use last year - around 498 a
week. In addition, around 70,000 people are treated for mental disorder
as outpatients each year.

The figures suggest health authorities are treating more people for
cannabis abuse than there are patients who have heart bypass operations
or treatment for colon cancer. Some 21,000 people a year have a bypass
operation and colon cancer is contracted by some 22,000 people a year.

Downgrading cannabis to a Class C drug placed it alongside steroids and
some prescription anti-depressants. Possession of them can lead to a
two-year prison sentence, but charges are rarely brought against people
found with small quantities of such drugs. Class B drugs however, include more dangerous substances such as amphetamines. People found in possession of Class B drugs can face a five-year jail term and an unlimited fine.

There is no "substitute medication" available to treat cannabis
problems, so the majority of National Health Service treatment is
carried out by psychiatrists, therapists and counsellors.

The independent review into its reclassification, by the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs, was prompted by growing concern about
the increasing prevalence of new high-strength forms of cannabis.
So-called "super-skunk" leaves can be twice as potent as more
traditional cannabis resin. Advocates of downgrading or legalising cannabis say the risks are low compared to those of alcohol and tobacco. Some sufferers of chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis say the drug provides vital pain relief.

Many doctors say the risks outweigh the benefits, and the British
Medical Association yesterday said the latest treatment figures
strengthened its opposition to the decision to downgrade the drug.
A BMA spokesman said: "This is drug that is mostly smoked, so that can
cause lung damage and cancer. There are also concerns about the
potential negative effect cannabis has on users' psychiatric state."

Addaction, a charity that treats people with drug problems, warned that
children suffered particularly from cannabis abuse. "Young people often
use cannabis at crucial development stages in their lives, and it does
have serious impacts on mental health and physical development," a
spokesman said.

Last night, the Department of Health insisted that the rising numbers of treatments reflect improvements in drug treatment and not rising
cannabis use.

However, the department also announced yesterday that the budget for the National Treatment Agency, which co-ordinates drug treatment, will be frozen at 2007 levels for the next three years. The agency will also be expected to find "efficiency savings" of £50 million a year from its
£398 million annual budget. Despite the freeze in his budget, Paul Hayes, the head of the agency, insisted that the number of drug treatments it can fund will rise.

"By becoming more efficient at delivering the best outcomes for
individuals we will be able to continue to increase the number of people into treatment, while increasing treatment effectiveness," he said.

Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health spokesman, said Labour was
wasting vast amounts of money. "The Government is ignoring the fact that its drug treatment policy is fundamentally misguided. Conservatives have promised to introduce abstinence-based treatment for drug addicts to help them get off drugs for good," he said.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/11/ncnbis111.

Cannabis link to 80 per cent of new mental cases

By MATTHEW HICKLEY


Eighty per cent of patients newly-diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychiatric illnesses are heavy users of cannabis, scientists have warned ministers.

The shocking figure emerged in a dossier submitted to Whitehall drug advisers as Gordon Brown weighs up whether or not to reverse Labour's "softly-softly" policy of downgrading cannabis. Campaigners have pointed to a flood of scientific evidence on the devastating damage the drug can do to mental and physical health.

Much of it has come in the four years since David Blunkett decided to reclassify cannabis from Class B to Class C, so that most users caught by police no longer face arrest or a criminal record. The Prime Minister ordered a review of that policy last summer following years of warnings that stronger "skunk" varieties of cannabis are wreaking havoc on users' mental health.

The Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will take evidence from leading academics next week before sending its latest official advice to ministers. Psychiatrist Professor Peter Jones, of Cambridge University, says in the dossier that eight out of ten newly-diagnosed psychiatric disorders affect heavy or dependent cannabis users.

He warns that children who are starting to smoke cannabis as young as ten or 11 could be trebling their risk of schizophrenia. Other new evidence of harm to mental health includes a UK study suggesting that by 2010 as many as 25 per cent of all cases of schizophrenia would be actually triggered by cannabis use. In a letter published in the Times yesterday, leading researchers and policy experts urged ministers to read the evidence and to toughen the law again.

A U.S. study found that smoking just half a cannabis joint could trigger schizophrenia-related symptoms.

Biologist Mary Brett of the Europe Against Drugs campaign, a signatory to the letter, said: "Every single piece of research around the world now emerging is bad news." A Home Office spokesman said: "We have always said that cannabis is an illegal and harmful drug. But to tackle drugs in the most effective way we need to monitor and review the ways in which we reduce the harm caused by illegal substances. That is why we are reviewing cannabis classification."

Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health Jan 2008

'ENDING BINGE DRINKING HOLDS KEY TO SOLVING DRUG PROBLEM'

Delegates at the Acpos annual drugs conference this week will be shown a DVD of boys in Polmont young offenders institute, describing the natural transition for them from binge drinking to taking cannabis and other drugs, including heroin and cocaine. For many of them, this was the reason they ended up behind bars.

The progression of young people trying cannabis and then moving on to harder drugs is a well-known argument against legalising cannabis but Graeme Pearson, the head of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), says it is time to tackle the problem much earlier, from before the stage of underage binge drinking.

"Reducing binge drinking among 11 to 15-year-olds will decrease the numbers who go on to be involved in drugs," he says, after speaking to scores of offenders about their experiences.

To the people, including the advocate Donald Findlay, who have recently called for cannabis to be decriminalised and regulated in the same way as alcohol, he suggests looking at Scotland's worsening public health record on drinking.

National statistics revealed last week that, despite having only 8.5% of the UK population, Scotland has three-quarters of the worst 20 areas for drink-related fatalities. Between 2004 and 2005, there were 3500 psychiatric discharges where the main diagnosis was linked to alcohol. In the same period there were 931 drug-related discharges.

"Why would we want drugs to be managed or licensed in the same way as drink and see the problems more than triple?" he asks. "I see the Scottish habit of abusing alcohol as being inextricably tied into our experience of drug abuse at the user level. Evidence from prisoners reinforces this view. The link to an alcohol strategy will be critical. One without the other will not work."

There is growing concern not only about the increas-ing use and cultivation of cannabis since it was reclassified, but about its strength. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction THC, the active ingredient in herbal cannabis, has doubled in strength between 1995 and 2002.

Mr Pearson says educating young people about the dangers of substances such as cannabis and using treatment to help people come off drugs, is vital. Sweden takes a hard line on alcohol and drugs misuse. It also has one of the lowest prevalence of cannabis use in Europe.

Its policy of a "drug-free society" has brought the introduction of new laws since the 1980s, calling for the prosecution of all drugs cases, even the very minor. Those caught for possession can be imprisoned for up to six months. Mr Pearson said: "Sweden has taken a very hard line on drugs. But it is still about a package of education, protection and enforcement.

"Scotland surprisingly accepted the challenge of public smoking and proved it could accept the impossible. If we can change behaviour in respect of smoking after 200 years of a love affair, we should surely be capable of facing the challenge of alcohol and drugs."

Source: The Herald, Pubdate: Wed, 28 Feb 2007

Hyperactivity in young linked to smoking during pregnancy

Children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy are up to nine times more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, scientists say. US researchers found smoking acts as a trigger for the disorder when children are already genetically predisposed to ADHD.

The dangers of smoking during pregnancy are well documented. But the links between smoking and ADHD have not been proven until now. Symptoms of the disorder usually start early in a child's life. In the US the most recent study indicated that around 3.3% of children under 10 have ADHD and levels are believed to be similar here. The researchers found no relationships between alcohol during pregnancy and ADHD. The scientists contacted just over 5,000 families with twin children aged seven to 18 in Missouri. The parents were asked to complete questionnaires on their children's behaviour and their habits during pregnancy. More than 24% reported smoking during pregnancy, of whom more than 75% smoked during the entire pregnancy.
A significantly increased risk of ADHD was found in those who smoked. "The average number of ADHD symptoms was significantly higher in the offspring who were exposed to prenatal smoking," the study said. Rosalind Neuman, one of the authors, said: "When genetic factors are combined with prenatal cigarette smoke exposure, the ADHD risk rises very significantly."
John Krystal, editor of Biological Psychiatry in which the research will be published in June, added: "These data highlight a new risk of maternal smoking, increasing the risk for ADHD in their children. ADHD, in turn, increases the risk for substance abuse. Thus, it appears in utero exposure to nicotine may help to perpetuate a cycle across generations that links addiction and behavioural problems."
A separate study, published last night, reveals that smoking cannabis while pregnant affects the brain development of unborn babies. Scientists believe taking the drug could restrict naturally occurring compounds in the embryonic brain which join up nerves and promote foetal growth.
The research centres on compounds in the body called endocannabinoids. These act in the same way as cannabis by attaching to receptors found on the surface of nerve cells in the brain. If cannabis is smoked at the same time as these molecules are released, there can be a battle for the receptors. This can disrupt the network of nerves and their formation.
Researchers in Scotland, the US and Hungary have been involved in the year-long study, led by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Anne Rajnicek, lecturer at Aberdeen University's institute of medical sciences, said: "Although we did not test marijuana-derived compounds directly, our data suggest marijuana use during pregnancy could affect development of the foetal brain."
Source: The Guardian Friday May 25, 2007

Scandal of Scots dope factories

DETECTIVES are shutting down at least one cannabis factory a week in their battle to contain an illegal industry created by reclassification of the drug, one of Scotland's leading police officers revealed last night.
Graeme Pearson, director general of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA), said cannabis factory raids north of the Border had gone from none to 66 in the space of 12 months.
In comments that will be seen as critical of senior politicians who allowed cannabis to be "downgraded" from Class B to Class C, Pearson says organised crime saw a business opportunity and quickly moved in.
Pearson said Scotland's new generation of "industrial-sized" cannabis producers could be worth more than £7m - equivalent to eight million "spliffs".
The SDEA chief spoke out after the government announced cannabis could be returned to Class B. That prompted numerous admissions north and south of the Border from politicians who admitted smoking the drug as students.
But Pearson warned that society faced much more severe problems as a result of cannabis use, including the increased strength of the drug. He also revealed that many people were working in the factories in conditions similar to "slavery".
The move to reclassify cannabis was made in 2004 by the-then Home Secretary David Blunkett. It came despite fierce opposition from many experts who claimed it gave out the wrong message.
Pearson said: "It is not surprising that the public misunderstood the reclassification message. They began to think cannabis was OK and young people took that message to mean that it cannot be too bad to use and was no big deal.
"As a result, we have gone from zero cultivation of industrial-sized cannabis factories in Scotland a year ago, to 66 today."
It is estimated that around 60% of cannabis smoked in Britain these days is home-produced, compared with just 11% a decade ago. The UK trade is run by the 'Viet-Ching', an amalgamation of Vietnamese gangsters working alongside Chinese counterparts, the Triads.
Pearson said: "I am obviously concerned about cannabis and its links to organised crime."
He added: "Each factory can house up to 1,000 plants, each capable of producing £100,000-worth of cannabis, making production in Scotland alone worth at least £7m a year."
Across the country, factories have been built in houses, flats, industrial units and farms. And just as worrying as the soaring production rates is the fact that the cannabis is today around seven times stronger than the era when many top politicians were smoking it.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said his party had long called for the reclassification of the drug, adding that the evidence "shows all too clearly the real damage this drug can do to people, especially young people".
Margaret Smith, the Scottish Lib Dem justice spokeswoman, said the drug's classification needs to be kept under review. She said: "I find these facts and figures very worrying and cannabis is a drug we need to take seriously. We should not underestimate its potential for harm."
The anti-drugs campaigner Maxie Richards said it was a mistake to have reclassified cannabis. She said: "The government never listened to us when we warned about the damage the reclassification would do. I see beautiful young people whose lives have been destroyed by cannabis. David Blunkett should be called to account for what he did."
A Scottish Executive spokesman said they remained vigilant about the drug's dangers.
Source: www.Scotsman.com Sunday 22nd July 2007

More help asked for cannabis addiction

UTRECHT –The use of cannabis remained stable between 2001 and 2005, but the number of requests for help with addiction to the substance rose 12 percent in 2005 alone. This has emerged from the annual report 2006 published by the National Drug Monitor on Tuesday.
The percentage of cocaine users also remained stable, while the number of users that reported to addiction treatment centres for help fell for the first time in years, by 2 percent. Cocaine use is significantly more prevalent among young people who frequent nightlife spots than in other segments of the population, the Monitor reported.
The number of ecstasy users also remained stable.
The number of consumers who used alcohol remained stable as well, though there are significant differences between age groups when it comes to heavy drinking. Men aged 18 to 24 drink the heaviest and are more likely to engage in binge drinking. The percentage of school students that start using alcohol at a young age increased between 1999 and 2003. Many of these children start drinking between the ages of 11 and
The number of 12-year-old who use alcohol decreased between 2003 and 2005 however. More and more young drinkers are drinking at home before going out (to save money). And binge drinking seems to be the rule rather than the exception in this group. Despite a legal ban on sales to under-16s young people have little trouble getting alcohol.
Of the 1.2 million problem drinkers only a small percentage turns to the addiction treatment services for help. In 2005 31 thousand people were treated for a drinking problem, up 5 percent from 2004.
Source: Expatica News. August 2007

Cannabis joint 'as harmful as smoking five cigarettes'

A single cannabis joint damages the lungs as much as smoking up to five cigarettes at once, researchers say. The drug forces the lungs to work harder by obstructing the air flow and causes chest tightness and wheezing, a study found.

The news comes after research published last week showed that cannabis could more than double the risk of developing psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia. Experts found that any use of cannabis - even taking the drug just once - was associated with a 41 per cent greater risk.
People who smoke the most cannabis were found to be the most likely to suffer a psychotic breakdown marked by delusions, hallucinations or disordered thoughts.

Campaigners renewed their calls for the Government to reverse its decision to downgrade cannabis to a class C drug.

The experts, including Professor Richard Beasley from the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, published their research today. It will be carried later in the journal Thorax.

A total of 339 volunteers underwent high definition X-rays of their lungs and took part in breathing tests to assess their lung function.
They were also asked about their smoking habits. The results showed that cannabis smokers experienced wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and phlegm.

The experts noted that the drug diminished the numbers of small airways that transported oxygen and waste products to and from blood vessels.

The extent of this damage was directly related to the number of joints smoked, with higher consumption linked to greater incapacity, the researchers said.

The effect on the lungs of each joint was equivalent to smoking between two-and-a-half and five cigarettes in one go, they added.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2819584.ece July 31st 2007

REAL COST OF CANNABIS

The following letter was printed in the Worthing Herald(UK) news paper on 10 sept 2003,and is very relevent to the item in The Times Jan'04

Regarding cannabis cafes, I work as a charge nurse at a local psychiatric hospital and and my colleagues have noticed a considerable increase in the number of people presenting with conditions caused by, or aggravated by cannabis use.This increase coincides with the time that Worthing has been home to cannabis cafes. I would be interested to see what the figures would be from an official audit of admissions to Meadowfield during the rest 12 months compared to a previous period. I feel that this cost to society in terms of expensive acute in-patient resources, and personal cost to peoples lives, is largely un-remarked upon by pro cannabis campaigners.Personally, I notice that many supporters present at court cases related to the cafes are not Worthing residents but are people with a vested interest. My impression is that there are not many local residents keen to see cannabis cafes thriving in Worthing. For these and many other reasons I fully support police efforts to close the cafes and thank police for the work done so far.

CANNABIS DOWNGRADE COINCIDES WITH DRUG DEATHS RISE

Drug deaths spiralled after Labour downgraded cannabis, it has been revealed.

The number of people killed by overdoses surged by almost 15 % in the next year. .

Critics had warned that the decision to reclassify cannabis from Class B to C in January 2004, meaning simple possession was unlikely to lead to arrest, would lead to a surge in the use of all illegal drugs. .

An internal Downing Street report later admitted that people trying cannabis had been lured on to deadly harder drugs. As a result, deaths from heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy all rocketed figures from the Office of National Statistics showed yesterday. The increase meant the Government failed to meet its target of reducing drug deaths by a fifth between 1999 and 2004. Before the reclassification of cannabis, it was on course to do so easily. .

Tory spokesman Edward Garnier said: 'Labour continues to fail to deal with the scourge of drugs. 'Drugs take lives and tear apart communities. They also undermine all our efforts to combat crime. The Government needs to get an urgent grip on this problem but so far all we have had is a chaotic and confused approach that gives the impression it is OK to take drugs.'.

Mary Brett, of the Europe Against Drugs campaign, said it appeared much more than simple coincidence that the alarming rise in deaths had followed the downgrading of cannabis. .

She said: 'Cannabis is a gateway drug, most people agree that now. A person smokes it and they are then far more likely to go on to take a harder drug. The Government will no doubt come up with excuses as to why the number of deaths has increased, saying the drugs were stronger. .

But that cannot be the whole explanation.
'It is a significant increase and how many of those who died were, for example, first-time users?' In 1999, the Government promised to reduce drug deaths by 20 % over the next five years. Following the pledge, the numbers fell each year, from 1,571 in 1999, to 1,255 in 2003. At this point, the target was hit a year early. But in 2004 the death toll suddenly shot up by 14 %, to 1,427. .

The number of heroin deaths was up from 591 in 2003 to 744, cocaine from 113 to 147 and Ecstasy from 33 to 48. The Health Department said last night that, despite the rise in deaths last year, there had been a 9 % reduction overall since 1999. .

Within the total, however, there was a 67 % increase in cocaine deaths, from 88 in 1999 to 147, and Ecstasy fatalities were up 85 %, from 26 to 48. Both figures reflect wider use. .

The department has now reconvened its Drug Related Deaths Steering Group, a panel of experts which will produce a plan of action later this year on how to reduce the toll.

Source: Motgift International. 31st August 2006

Government doing 'nothing' on cannabis education claims professor

Robin Murray, professor of psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, has accused the Government of doing 'nothing' to educate young people as to the potential dangers of cannabis.

The Government had pledged to 'launch a major campaign' this spring targeted at young people. The move came after the divisive reclassification of cannabis two years ago from a class 'b' to a class 'c' drug.

But Professor Murray told BBC Radio 4's 'You and Yours' that the Home Office was dragging its feet on the issue.

'It has been absolutely useless', he said. 'In January Charles Clarke announced that they accepted cannabis could cause schizophrenia and that they would initiate a major education campaign.

'Since that time Charles Clarke has gone and absolutely nothing has happened.'

Professor Murray attributed the inaction largely to Mr Clarke's unceremonious departure from the Home Office earlier this year and a subsequent change of policy emphasis.

He relayed: 'Charles Clarke was interested in it and he took a particular interest and, indeed, I think if he had stayed we perhaps would have seen some action but clearly John Reid has other interests and other pressing problems.'

And Professor Murray, who has long been a proponent of rolling out a health education campaign, said the Government paled in comparison to the actions taken in other countries on the issue.

'Well we know that in the continent and, particularly in the United States, there is a very active campaign whereas the Government here has being doing nothing', he remarked.

'One evening I got a phone call from the White House to say they initiating their programme to counter the problems associated with cannabis and they wanted me to go over to the launch of this campaign.

'They have launched this campaign. All of the newspapers, cinema have videos all about the dangers that you can go psychotic if you smoke a lot of cannabis.'

But again he expressed regret over how 'nothing' had happened in the UK, accusing the Home Office of putting its proposed education campaign 'in a drawer and forgetting about it'.

Asked what then needs to be done, Professor Murray advised: 'We have to provoke them into actually delivering on their promise, that we know there are increasing numbers of young people developing psychosis becoming dependent on cannabis.'

'This is costing the Government a lot', he observed. 'It is one of the reasons why our mental health services are in such a mess because there are so many people whose illness does not recover and they are at this point doing nothing about it.'

In a statement, the Government insists it is 'committed to educating young people on the harms of drugs'.

Source: Mon, 17 Jul 06 |DeHavilland Report - Broadcast