Stronger Marijuania Is Major Health Risk Lorna Duckworth
February 01, 2001
c.2001 The Independent, London
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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