IT IS OUR DUTY TO SAVE KIDS FROM CANNABIS

It was with deep dismay that I read the letter from Dr Evan Harris MP
et al (November 25) urging the government to postpone plans to
reclassify cannabis. The writers say that the level of cannabis use
has fallen in recent years, but among young teenagers drug use
continues to rise, and the choice of 14- to 15-year-olds is still
cannabis.

The brain does not finish its development till the 20s, so the
younger a person starts using cannabis, the higher the risk of
becoming addicted, suffering mental illness or moving on to other
drugs. Dr Harris et al claim that there is no new research, but
currently Professor Robin Murray is finding that giving THC - the
active ingredient in cannabis - to healthy volunteers does indeed
cause psychosis, it's simply a matter of the amount given.

Restoring cannabis to class B will give some comfort to the thousands
of parents whose children have been affected by cannabis use becoming
the norm since downclassification, many of whom have contacted our
organisation. The home secretary must stick to her guns. The message
needs to go out that the government is listening and acknowledging
this appalling public health issue.

I wonder how many of the writers of the letter have had first-hand
experience of living with the misery and desperation caused by skunk
cannabis use among the young? The message that will be sent by
restoring the drug to class B is a good start to eradicating the
problem, and thereafter school drug education policy must return to
focus on prevention. It is our duty to protect children, not to leave
them to make critical life decisions many years before their brains
have matured.

Debra Bell

Director, Talking About Cannabis