IN THE NEWS

·                            Published Date: 20 March 2007

·                            Source: Peterborough ET

·                            Location: Peterborough

The 'safe drug' that can seriously damage your mental health

Raising awareness of the dangers of cannabis at the Honeyhill Pupil Referral Service are, from left, Grant Gibson, Luke Smith, Rhys Lowe and Tracey Moyses, behind young people’s drugs worker for Bridgegate Conrad McMahon. (7BD0319202) Picture: Ben Davis

By Maria Thompson

THE Evening Telegraph yesterday revealed that cannabis use by Peterborough's teenagers has reached alarming proportions and most of them think it's as safe as smoking cigarettes. Yet there are now more young people than ever being treated for mental illness connected to smoking the substance. Features writer Maria Thompson finds out how the reclassified drug is having such a negative affect on today's youth.

WITH politicians happy to admit they've tried it and celebrities with successful careers openly talking about using cannabis, it's not surprising most teenagers think it's safe.

Statistics prove more and more of our young people are smoking pot, despite the fact that it can lead to serious mental health problems such as psychosis and schizophrenia.

Reclassification has sent out a confusing message to people and it's made many believe it's not harmful.

But experts are saying this is just not so.

They say the cannabis or skunk now on sale on the streets of our city is six times more powerful than the stuff many adults may have tried in the '60s.

While it always had the potential to bring about mental health problems, the likely-hood is now even higher.

With this in mind, Bridgegate Drugs Services in Peterborough is running a campaign all week warning young people about the dangers of cannabis.

School nurses will be encouraging children to learn about the harms of smoking dope, and drugs workers will be targeting young, vulnerable people offering advice about everything from cutting down to understanding the risks.

Zoe Ashmore, a consultant forensic psyhcologist for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, works alongside the youth offending team and is backing the campaign.

Mrs Ashmore sees the affects cannabis can have on a young person's life on a daily basis and is under no illusion the problem is getting worse.

She said: "It may

be that the cannabis causes mental health problems, or it might be that the person already has problems and uses cannabis to block it out.

"Either way, we have seen much more of these symptoms because the cannabis they are smoking now is much stronger."

According to the National Treatment Agency for Substance Abuse, regional figures for Peterborough show last year there were 685 young people under the age of 18 in touch with a drug treatment service for cannabis misuse.

While no one is saying cannabis will kill you or is as harmful as heroin, the real concern is the affect long term use is having on their mental health.

Mrs Ashmore said: "It can be six times stronger than the stuff that was around in the '60s and people have a perception it's a fairly safe drug, particularly after it was reclassified, but it can bring on psychosis or serious mental health problems such as schizophrenia.

"Obviously it depends on how much people are smoking and all sorts of individual factors, but when young people are taking drugs we don't know what they are taking or how much because there are no safeguards.

"We can't say everyone who uses cannabis will go on to using other drugs or be in trouble with the law, because they won't. But they will suffer in other ways, such as at school or with friends – and it may affect their memory in the future.

“The thing that’s worrying is how long-term cannabis use will affect them in the long run.”

Cannabis affects a person’s cognitive behaviour – that’s the area of the brain that deals with reality and how we understand the world around us.

When someone smokes it they end up with a view of the world which isn’t real – it may feel like everything is great but the reality will be very different.

For teenagers this could be particularly harmful when already faced with challenges of growing up and understanding their place in a very complex and confusing world.

Many teenagers, it seems, smoke cannabis for no other reason than because they like it, but

there are others who do it because they are unhappy.

The youngsters who end up at drug treatment centres represent the extreme end of cannabis misuse and are often smoking the drug to block out feelings of depression or hurt.

While in the short term it may seem like a solution, in the long term it will make their problems worse.

Mrs Ashmore said: “They are often trying to find ways of coping. If there is trauma in their lives, we try to help them find other ways of coping, because cannabis is just a way of escaping. It helps to begin with, but in the end causes more trouble.

“They can become much more withdrawn and lose confidence meeting people in social situations, and this leads to further depression.

“At the most severe end, it can bring on mental health problems that may have been there but would have emerged much later in life.

“And on top of that, the whole process of buying substances illegally can lead to all sorts of problems with criminal practices, which again are not good for people’s health.”

Teenagers will always be teenagers but the main concern now is the damage they are unknowingly doing to themselves.

There is real concern for their mental health, as well as general health and well being.

Not only could they end up in trouble with the law, drug workers have also found cannabis being sold in Peterborough is being laced with glass or sand to increase its potency.

Known on the street as “Gritty Weed”, kids have said they can feel it in their lungs as they smoke.

This is something the Bridgegate campaign is teaching young people to look out for and what it can do to their bodies if they continue to smoke it.

The upshot of it all is that helping young people to make the right decisions about cannabis is what Bridgegate drug workers hope to do this week.

Although every individual’s reasons for picking up a joint may be different, the reasons for putting it down again are the same.

Young people need hobbies, sports and passions, they need reasons to live their lives and enjoy them and smoking cannabis is not a good reason.

Charity’s help with kicking the drugs habit

ARMED with two, eight foot long, fake joints Conrad McMahon will be hoping to draw youngsters into listening to his anti-cannabis advice this week.

As part of  Bridgegate Drug Services campaign Mr McMahon will be targeting vulnerable youngsters with information and advice to help them kick the habit.

With the help of teenagers at the Honey Hill Pupil Referral Unit in Paston he made the spliffs in the hope they would grab people’s attention. He said: “A lot of people think it’s not harmful because it’s herbal and to some of them cannabis is just like smoking cigarettes.

“There are all sorts of things wrong with it particularly because it’s illegal there is no control over what contaminates are in it.

“What we want to do is reduce the amount of harm people who smoke cannabis come to. We don’t want to tell them they are bad because they are smoking it, there’s enough pressure on young people as it is.

“We are really concentrating on making sure the ones who don’t smoke it never do and helping the ones that do to either cut down or quit all together.”

Passionate about helping teenagers to stop smoking cannabis, Mr McMahon hopes to be able to advise and guide the kids that come to him for help.

He says 90 per cent of people who try it are not affected in the long term but because it’s illegal there’s not enough research being done to know exactly what the risks are. And he added: “Cannabis is something that debilitates you, shuts you indoors and takes away your ambition – if it was a physical complaint it would be really worrying.”

To find out more about the campaign or for drug advice, call Bridgegate Drug Services on 01733 314551.


Cannabis and the law: The facts:

 Cannabis is illegal; it’s a Class C drug.

 If the police catch anyone with cannabis they should always take action.

 Anyone caught with even a small amount of cannabis on them can be arrested.

 What the police will do depends on the circumstances and the age of a person.

 Usually, they will get a warning and the police will confiscate the drug and if they are under 18, a parent or guardian will also be contacted.

The police are more likely to arrest people if they are blatantly smoking in public and/or have been caught with cannabis before.

 If someone continues to break the law, they can end up with a criminal record which could affect their chances of getting a job.

 It could also affect whether they can go on holiday to some countries.

 The maximum penalty for possession is two years in prison plus an unlimited fine.

 Dealing is a very serious offence. In the eyes of the law, this includes giving drugs to friends.

 People who grow cannabis in their homes, or carry large amounts on them, also risk being charged with intent to supply.

 The maximum penalty for supply is 14 years in prison plus an unlimited fine.

 Drug-driving is as illegal as drink-driving.

 Offenders could go to prison, get a heavy fine or be disqualified.

 Allowing people to take cannabis in your house or any other premises is illegal.

 If the police catch someone smoking cannabis in a club they can prosecute the landlord, club owner or person holding the party.

 Using cannabis to relieve pain is also an offence.

 Possession is illegal whatever you’re using it for.                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Last Updated: 21 March 2007