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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: The weed, Molly and me
Mark Read The Telegraph
Tuesday 22 Mar 2005 As the Government reviews its policy on cannabis, Mark Read describes his shock when he found his daughter using the drug The dreadlocked drugs counsellor began with a piece of advice that sounded about right: "As I always say, if you're going to do it, do it in moderation." Looking around at the Year Nine "Your child and drugs" parents' evening, I saw plenty of anxious glances, but even more knowing nods. Most people in the room knew that "just say no" doesn't quite cut it any more when it comes to cannabis. But our expressions changed when the counsellor explained what he meant. Cannabis "So I tell them: 'Look, when you roll a spliff before school, don't make it a three-blader. Try a one-blader for a change'." After some bemused muttering about terminology, we all felt uneasy. I assumed that the counsellor was trying shock tactics to show how serious the problem can be. After all, Molly, my own well-behaved 13-year-old daughter, was light years away from the three-blader world. "Just you wait till Molly hits 14," said Jane, a doctor with a son 10 months older than my daughter. "We got called in by the school because Jack was always arriving late and looking stoned, and let me tell you, that counsellor was amazing because he got us to look at it as a family and now we've got him to cut it down to weekends only, which is a big breakthrough. His academic results have improved dramatically." Over the following weeks, I heard several more worrying tales of Year Nine boys: one excluded from school - "I'm sure it was all that stuff he smoked," said his mother; another "tried crack a couple of times - he was hanging out with those rude boys", and perhaps most alarmingly, a third whose father admitted "scoring a half tab of acid" for him. "He was going to try it anyway, wasn't he? So it was best he got it from me." But still, the problem seemed remote. Girls, I told myself, are different. A week on, a hint of change: a late-night call from Molly's best friend's mother, saying she had arrived "quite giggly" after a party. "Perhaps it's best if she sleeps over," she said. When she staggered home the next morning, she admitted she'd drunk too much tequila and vodka. "No more alcohol," she moaned as she rushed to the loo. A few experiences with booze were inevitable, I reasoned. At least we were still in the clear on drugs. A month later, she had four friends over and they decided to camp outside. I saw them passing around a rolled-up cigarette. "Oh hi," they said, apparently unfazed. The next morning I raised the issue over breakfast. "No need to worry, there was no tobacco," one of them explained. Later I confronted Molly. "Well, I smoked my first spliff about two months ago, but only a few hits because it hurt my throat," she said. "Actually, I was already a bit drunk, so I don't know if it affected me, and I've smoked it twice since then, but no more than a few drags." She added: "And, by the way, you're in no position to lecture because I once saw you passing a spliff at a New Year's Eve party." "That was over five years ago and it was just a one-off, and anyway I'm 30 years older than you." I was 16 when I first came home drunk, and 17 when I had my first taste of cannabis, but the age rules have clearly changed. Cannabis is now a Class C drug, and far more widely available to younger teenagers. Of Molly's classmates, 12 out of 15 had "smoked weed at least once", including all the boys. Now very concerned, I had a chat with another drugs counsellor. Her advice boiled down to one essential: talk about it as openly as possible. I asked Molly and her friends what they learnt about drugs at school. "Nothing," they said. They had had one lesson, in which they were divided into groups, each discussing a drug. "Mine was aspirin," said Molly. "It's too late for drugs education," said one girl. "It wouldn't make any difference - certainly not about weed. It just made me more interested. You hear all about the effects and you think: 'Hey, that sounds cool'." Another friend added: "There's nothing they can tell us we don't know." I asked them what they knew of the potential harmful effects of cannabis and they were soon bubbling away with facts gleaned from teenage magazines: "It makes you lazy, slow and stupid"; "It can make you paranoid"; "It can drive you to schizophrenia, if it's in your genes"; "It can make you addicted to the tobacco mix and cause lung cancer"; "Doesn't it reduce fertility?" So which worries you the most? I asked. "None!" they said in unison. When her friends had left, Molly said: "Look Dad, trying it a few times has done me no harm and I'll probably try it again, but none of that stuff will put me off because if I do choose to smoke it again, it will only be occasionally. OK? So, drop it." But what if her habit goes beyond the occasional - and, possibly, beyond cannabis? I hope people like the dreadlocked counsellor will never get involved in my life, and that it never comes to anything like the stark choices he offered. It seems his approach was about right: be sure she's aware of the risks, counsel moderation, watch for warning signs and, whatever happens, keep talking. Even so, I feel sadder and wiser about the realities of teenage drug-use. Britons head smoking league Britain has the highest rate of teenage cannabis use in Europe: 38 per cent of 15- to 16-year-olds admit that they have tried it, compared to an average of 21 per cent across the continent. In a study by Professor Robin Murray of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, 15-year-olds who regularly smoked cannabis were found to be four and a half times more likely to suffer from schizophrenia at 26. Another study, by Professor Jim Van Os of Maastricht University found that half of 14- to 24-year-olds who were psychologically vulnerable and smoked cannabis developed psychotic symptoms; twice the rate among those who did not use the drug. Last week, Charles Clarke ordered a review of the Government's decision to downgrade the drug from Class B to Class C last year. "When you are an adolescent your brain is not fully formed," says Prof Murray. "Psychosis is related to dopamine function, and as the brain is still not fully mature that function may be interfered with."Prof Murray does not think that cannabis should be reclassified, but believes teenagers should be educated on its dangers. "There are bound to be downsides to anything that intoxicates you." www.talktofrank.co.uk, 0800 776600; www.knowcannabis.org.uk
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