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Tuesday, 16th March 2010

Cannabis abuse grips Lancashire's young

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Published Date: 24 January 2008
More than 120 Lancashire teenagers were referred for cannabis abuse treatment in a year, it has been revealed.
The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System figures reveal in 2005-06 126 under-18s in the Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority area were referred for drug treatment in a bid to stop them taking cannabis.

Health experts today told of the potential dangers of the drug, while one MP said the figures are further evidence the Government's "experiment" in reclassifying the drug from class B to class C had failed.

Last year a further 1,949 under-18s across the newly formed North West SHA area were given treatment for use of the drug.

These are the latest statistics to provide insight into the scale of the cannabis problem in the county.

In addition to the under-18 figures, 349 over-18s were referred for treatment in the county's SHA area, the 2005-6 figures show.

Ribble Valley Conservative MP Nigel Evans, a former chairman of the All-Party Drugs Misuse Group, said: "It is incredibly worrying and, I suspect, the tip of the iceberg.

"I think the Government has now made several indications that they are prepared to reclassify it back to class B and my only question is why are they dithering?

"The experiment has failed dismally and I don't want to read another proposal that they are thinking about it.

"They just need to do it."

Tom Woodcock, strategic director of Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Action Team, said: "People can develop a cannabis habit very quickly and regular use can be harmful.

"It can trigger mental health problems, it can also affect personal relationship and have a negative impact in education and work."

Across England 16,685 over-18s and 9,259 under-18s were referred for cannabis treatment last year.

Cannabis was reclassified from class B to class C in 2004.

But increasing evidence of the harm the drug can cause has led to growing calls for the decision to be reversed.



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  • Last Updated: 24 January 2008 11:32 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Preston
 
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mary james,

fylde 24/01/2008 14:40:58
sounds like mr evans is using the current cannabis fiasco to boost his political profile. his comments are so far removed from reality as to be laughable to anyone with even a little knowledge of the subject.
it's about time that politicians decide what they believe in and not cherrypick subjects that they think will keep them in the papers and make their supporters think they are worth supporting.
unfortunately mr evans has misread the attitude of the country as a whole and deserves the ridicule he has attracted.
2

peter hammond,

24/01/2008 14:51:52
in 2006-7 there was 17 people sent to HOSPITAL for cannabis in the UK, why have you added all the phone calls to talk to frank when 65% of the calls where prank calls

and the number of people sent to hospital for alcohol in 2006-7 was averaging 1000 a day

if you want to attack drugs then attack cocaine and heroin THE KILLERS and extasy the real drug that leads to hard drugs
if you want kids to stop taking cannabis then stop them getting it by controlling it, not letting 14 year olds deal it, and how do we do that by legalizing regulating can controlling not by letting kids deal it then throwing the children and young adults in jail for the same time as a child rapist and to the same jail,
if cannabis gets re classed as B THEN ANY ONE CAUGHT WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF CANNABIS WILL HAVE THE SAME MAXIMUM JAIL TIME AS A RAPIST
cocaine abuse under the labor government has increased by 45% but nothing has been done about it why? and cannabis abuse has gone down that is a fact
but you want cannabis users put in jail and leaving the cocaine dealers alone and there is some cannabis dealers the government will not arrest that is the importers with there contaminated cannabis
the contamination includes led,glass, and other very harmful substances to make the cannabis weigh more, and this is why there was 17 people sent to hospital in 2006-7 it would not have happened if cannabis was legal
but as i say the government is leaving the importers and the real big dealers alone and busting the importers competition NOT A VERY SMART MOVE
3

A Medical Cannabis User,

Preston 24/01/2008 15:29:55
What utter tosh, more cherrypicking smoke and mirrors.

When the statistics do not equate a balance then they are forged for personal gain.

Kids are privvy to dealers, who are unscupulous and have'nt the buyers health in mind.

The solid resin has little more to do with cannabis than asprin is to heroin.

Prohibition lies,disinformation and spin, are not educating the young over any perceived drug,including alcohol and tobacco.

Why then is the medical professions using non synthetic cannabis products, with more due to the market soon.

It is ludicrous that a natural medicine can be deemed such a scourge on our children.

There is plenty of truth out there, seek and you shall find truth.

Prohibition is big money, it also feeds the blackmarket.

Legalsie all drugs and be done with it.
4

Tony Benn,

UK 24/01/2008 15:33:53
It's clear that the view of this article is heavily politically motivated. Cannabis use has gone down since moving to class C. There are very few cases of people having a problem with the drug. If you want to really know the facts then take a look at 'http://www.tdpf.org.uk/' transforms website. With information from leading medical professionals on it.
5

Fighting for a chav free Preston,

24/01/2008 17:02:42
You get drunkards stumbling about the streets every night after falling out of clubs and pubs and they persistently cause damage to shops/cars/homes and the like costing hundreds even thousands of pounds worth of damage. But yet the police would rather turn a blind eye to this and go after the guy having a joint with his mates who is causing no harm to anyone (other than himself) and certainly not costing as much as the people who can't handle their drinks. Its a joke! Alcohol is a dug too, a lot of people tend to forget that and they also forget its a lot more damaging than weed. I mean really, can you find a single case of where someone has died from cannabis abuse? I think not. On the other, how many people have died from alcohol abuse................
6

john-boi,

Sheffield 24/01/2008 18:17:04
More nonsense reporting from someone who wants organised crime to retain the £5 billion pounds a year they make from drugs being illegal.

Lets get some real figures here shall we , the number of hospital admissions in 2006/07 with this diagnosis (750) was lower than in 2005/06 (946) - and it should be noted that the same individual could have been admitted to hospital more than once in any one year.

So more people being put into treatment rather than criminalised actual use of Cannabis falling, number of hospital admissions falls 20% last year this downgrading of Cannabis is one of the few successes of this government.The article and comment by the MP shows the ignorance displayed on this issue.
if you want facts go here

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/newsandevents/currentnewspages/Telegraph-cannabis-stats-response.htm
7

john-boi,

Sheffield 25/01/2008 08:05:11
to PaulAB this is a common misconception as regards Cannabis you will find that almost a 100% of hard drug users their first drug of contact was tobacco.
In Holland where Cannabis is seperated from the supply of harder drugs the use of such harder drugs is falling. This shows, it is the fact that the sale of Cannabis is linked with other drugs is the main reason for progression not the Cannabis itself. It is in a dealers profit motive to get his customers onto harder drugs. THis motive is totally removed when Cananbis is available through Coffeee shops as in Holland. ^Then the progression to heroin etc is almost totally removed except for those with a predispostion to addictive behaviour and as stated at the start of the post it is almost always tobacco that is the linking drug.Remember tobacco is as addictive as heroin and is the first conciousness changing drug most people come across.
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