Claims that cannabis is harmless have been undermined by a new report which warns that the drug is becoming more powerful and can lead to severe long-term health damage.
The study, which will give weight to the government's refusal to legalize the drug, says cannabis can provoke severe anxiety and mental illness, seriously impairs driving skills, is five times more damaging to the lungs than cigarettes, weakens the immune system and may lead to rare throat cancers or fatal heart attacks.
The hard-hitting report by Heather Ashton of Newcastle University says that a typical joint of cannabis in the 1960s contained just 10mg of a potent chemical, known as THC, which affects the brain. Now, with more sophisticated cultivation and plant breeding, a joint may contain 150mg of THC and up to 300mg if it is laced with hashish oil.
Ashton also said the number of young people using cannabis has increased in the past 10 years. One in five university students have said they use the drug at least once a week, up to 40 percent of teen-agers aged 15 to 16 have tried it, and a survey of junior hospital doctors showed 30 percent smoked cannabis.
Extreme users, who are likely to have developed a dependency, may smoke 15 joints a day so that they remain on a permanent high. Many of these are unemployed youths, alcoholics or psychiatric patients, Ashton said.
While the drug is widely perceived to make users feel calmer and more sociable, it can also produce severe mental disturbances and precipitate or aggravate schizophrenic attacks.
Even a single dose may take 30 days to flush out of the system, Ashton said. ``Cannabis affects almost every body system. It combines many of the properties of alcohol, tranquilizers, opiates and hallucinogens.'' The long-term health risks may not be understood for 10 to 20 years.
The known effects include distorted perception, slower reaction times and impaired coordination and driving skills. Damage to the cardiovascular system may increase the risk of fatal heart attacks in some young users. Three to four cannabis cigarettes are as toxic as 20 tobacco cigarettes and regular cannabis users may suffer bronchitis and emphysema.
The study is one of three papers in today's British Journal of Psychiatry. Philip Robson, a consultant psychiatrist at Warneford Hospital, Oxford, said that cannabis has been found to have a therapeutic effect in conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis to cancer and AIDS. Many doctors believe the law should be changed so they can prescribe cannabis, Robson said.
In the third study, Andrew Johns of the Institute of Psychiatry in London warns that regular cannabis users are in danger of developing acute mental problems and becoming dependent on the drug.
After heavy doses, they can suffer a feeling of loss of control, fear of dying and irrational panic, and depersonalization, Johns said.
(The Independent Web site is at http://www.independent.co.uk/)
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