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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: High cost of reclassifying cannabis
Tom Gordon The Herald
Monday 23 Jan 2006 The number of people detained in hospital for mental and behavioural problems due to cannabis use has soared since the drug was reclassified. Data released by the Scottish Executive in a parliamentary answer this week will show 494 discharges from acute hospitals last year after a "cannabinoid"– related diagnosis, compared with 285 in 2003, the year before cannabis was downgraded from a class B to a class C drug. The biggest rises were in the Greater Glasgow and Lothian health board areas. In Greater Glasgow, discharges more than doubled, from 74 in 2002-03 to 158 in 2004-05. In Lothian, the numbers more than trebled, up from 45 to 136. The figures appear to bear out a warning given last year by Professor Neil McKeganey, of Glasgow University's centre for drug misuse, that reclassification would lead to increased usage. Health problems associated with smoking cannabis include lung damage, chronic bronchitis, depression, anxiety, and the precipitation of, or relapse into, psychotic symptoms in people suffering from schizophrenia. Cannabis was reclassified in January 2004, near the end of the 2003-04 accounting year. The new figures come just days after Charles Clarke, the home secretary, refused to restore the drug's class B ranking. His decision followed advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which said that, although harmful and capable of "real and significant" effects on mental health, cannabis was not as harmful as the other class B drugs such as amphetamine, barbiturates and codeine. Class C means it remains ranked alongside anabolic steroids and GHB, a drug used at dances and raves. Shona Robison, spokeswoman on health for the SNP, which elicited the figures, said: "It's obviously concerning that there's been such a huge jump. There certainly been evidence of mental health problems linked to cannabis use, and these figures add weight to that. "One of the big worries is that there has not been a clear message given out to young people that cannabis is not a cost-free drug and that there are long-term effects on the people who use it." Mrs Robison said more research was needed to establish how much of the rise came from more people presenting with problems through over-indulgence or ignorance after the switch to class C. Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Tories, said the figures highlighted the executive's continued failure to stamp out drugs abuse. Last year The Herald revealed that the use and cultivation of cannabis in Scotland had exploded since its reclassification. Strathclyde Police seized 1715 plants between April and December 2004, compared with 742 in the previous year. The new Scottish data also shows a rise in acute hospital discharges for problems related to cocaine use: up from 56 in 2000-01 to 190 in 2004-05. The biggest recorded rise in discharges was in ill-health related to tobacco, from 799 in 2000-01 to 4904 in 2004-05. However, this may be due to the way data was recorded. An executive spokeswoman said the cannabis figures bore out the executive's message that the drug was harmful and illegal. "It brings a risk to physical and mental health and that's why we are updating our education campaign on it, and our police forces continue to report people to procurators-fiscal over it." http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/54730-print.shtml
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