I think you've been smoking a little too much. The article is saying that
since the laws have been relaxed (and by implication that cannabis use has
increased) that mental health problems have also increased.
"Dr John Watson" <drjohn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:6cbqalF3f7srtU1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>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
>
>
|
