I have been unable to find a source for these claims. Can anyone find a
link?
My comment to this article (which I doubt will get published):
Government statistics show that the use of cannabis has been falling for
about five years. This has not changed since reclassification, the fall is
continuing (whether the fall will reverse with re-reclassification we wait
and see).
GW Pharmaceuticals are testing a cannabis-based medicine for relief of
psychotic symptoms.
If this article is true (which I have reservations about) then the rise in
the number of mental health cases has paralleled the fall in the number of
cannabis users.
Using similar "logic" to this article, then the fall in the number of
cannabis users has led to an increase in mental health problems.
In other words, this article "proves" that cannabis use can prevent mental
illnesses.
(This message is also posted to new:uk.politics.drugs, as I have no doubt
you won't publish it).
Mental illness in under-16s soared after cannabis laws were relaxed
By Daily Mail Re****ter
Last updated at 11:20 PM on 23rd June 2008
The number of under-16s being treated for mental illness has shot up since
the laws on cannabis were relaxed, according to figures obtained by MPs.
Over the past four years the cost to the NHS of anti-psychotic drugs for
this age bracket has gone up by almost two thirds - from just under
£1.7million in 2004 to £2.72million last year.
The price of the drugs has not risen much over that period, meaning a
rising number of young patients is the reason for the cost increase.
The NHS figures are the latest indicator to suggest that downgrading
cannabis from class B to class C in 2004 is linked to a sharp increase in
psychosis among the young.
Reclassification meant that police were unlikely to arrest anyone caught
with the drug.
James Broken****re, the Tory MP who dug out the details, said: ‘These are
shocking figures and they suggest an increase in the prevalence of
psychosis in the young.
He added: ‘The Government’s mixed messages on cannabis have caused
real harm and we won’t know the full extent of the damage for years to
come.’
In May Gordon Brown backed a move to make the drug class B once more
because of evidence suggesting it is linked to schizophrenia and
psychosis, and because strains of cannabis have become much stronger than
those sold in the past.
Police chiefs, however, have indicated that they will ignore the more
serious legal status of the drug and continue to allow many of those found
in possession to go free. Youngsters are likely to bearrested only if
caught on a series of occasions.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028911/Mental-illness-16s-soared-cannabis-laws-relaxed.html
--
Dr John Watson
Baker Street
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