Source: Evening News, Norwich, UK
Pub date: Saturday, March 19, 2005
Subj:
Clarke's concern over cannabis
Web: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/
Contact::
EveningNewsLetters@archant.co.uk
Cited: Legalise Cannabis Alliance http://www.lca-uk.org/
http://www.ccguide.org.uk/en250105.php
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has asked independent
advisers to reassess the dangers of cannabis in the light of new medical
research, it emerged today.
Mr Clarke, who is set to go head-to-head with
Legalise Cannabis Alliance Don Barnard in his Norwich South constituency at the
General Election, has highlighted recent studies suggesting a link between dope
use and mental illness.
He has asked for particular guidance on the Dutch
government's plans to introduce a higher classification for more potent types
of cannabis known as 'skunk'.
Mr Clarke was last month involved in a spat with
the Norwich-based Legalise Cannabis Alliance when he refused to attend their
national conference, saying he had "no respect" for the party.
Former Home Secretary David Blunkett downgraded the
drug from Class B to Class C in January last year, making its possession a
non-arrestable offence in most cases.
But in a letter to the chairman of the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), Mr Clarke said: "I think there is
merit in the Advisory Council assessing whether their position is at all
changed by the emerging evidence."
His letter, released today by the Home Office,
referred to a New Zealand study which looked at how regular cannabis use
affected the risk of developing psychotic symptoms later in life.
Mr Clarke went on: "I want to be clear what
influence the evidence presented within these studies has on the overall
assessment of the classification of cannabis.
"I am aware the Dutch Government are taking a
particular interest in very high-strength strains and are considering whether
cannabis above a certain strength should be a higher classification."
Mr Barnard said: "I don't disagree with what
they are suggesting, but I believe many of these reports are written by
academics for other academics and in the real world they are simply baloney.
"These supposed links with mental illness,
which were first reported by the BBC, have gone all around the world. But other
researchers who have looked behind the simplistic headlines at the research have
found that it is riddled with holes."