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Cannabis as bad as heroin, warns UN drugs watchdog
Gerri Peev The Scotsman
Tuesday 27 Jun 2006 Cannabis as bad as heroin, warns UN drugs watchdog. THE drugs watchdog of the United Nations has rebuked the UK government's policy change on cannabis, saying it sent a confusing message to young people. UN experts also warned that a major increase in the potency of cannabis means it now poses health risks similar to those of heroin. Click to learn more... The decision to reclassify cannabis as a Class C drug - made by the Home Secretary in 2004 - was implicitly criticised by Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, who warned of the growth in its use. Cannabis had become more potent in the past few decades and governments that maintained inadequate policies got the "drug problem they deserve", Mr Costa said in the 2006 World Drug Report. "Policy reversals leave young people confused as to just how dangerous cannabis is," he added. " The cannabis pandemic, like other challenges to public health, requires consensus, a consistent commitment across the political spectrum and by society at large." He warned governments against playing party politics with the classification of cannabis as its harmful effects were "no longer that different" to the damage caused by cocaine and heroin. His remarks were made on UN Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. But the Home Office stood by its decision to maintain cannabis as Class C. A spokesman said: "Cannabis is controlled as a Class C drug. It is harmful and illegal and no-one should take it. In January 2006 the Home Secretary accepted the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommendation that cannabis remain a Class C drug. This decision to retain its classification is supported by the police and by most drug and mental health charities." The Home Office said that consumption of cannabis had fallen from more than 28 per cent to 24 per cent in 16-24 year olds. Scotland has one of the worst drug problems in Europe, with an estimated 50,000 addicts. At least half a million Scots are believed to have smoked cannabis and 200,000 are believed to have taken cocaine. Last week, Tom Wood, Scotland's drug tsar, sparked controversy by suggesting the nation had "lost the war on drugs". The European Commission has admitted that drug abuse in the bloc and the deaths it causes have reached "unprecedented" levels and that in any given month, 1.5 million Europeans take cocaine and 12 million use cannabis. Since David Blunkett, the former home secretary, downgraded cannabis to a class C, ministers have proposed much lower limits for possession of the drug before an individual is prosecuted as a dealer. In contrast, the Dutch parliament is considering allowing the controlled cultivation of cannabis while Italy has also taken a softer stance. The European Commission is asking for input into its drugs policy review from July to September. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1997/WHO_MSA_PSA_97.4.pdf http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=936932006
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