Harmless? Nine in ten teens at drug clinics are being treated for cannabis
CANNABIS is responsible for 91 per cent of cases where teenagers end up being treated for drug addiction, figures show.
Supporters claim it is harmless, but an official report warns the ‘increased dominance of highpotency herbal cannabis’ – known as skunk – is causing more young people to seek treatment.
Academic research, revealed in The Mail on Sunday over the past three years, has shown that skunk is having a serious impact on the mental health of the young.
At least two studies have shown repeated use triples the risk of psychosis. The latest UK Focal Point on Drugs report was drawn up by bodies including Public Health England, the Scottish Government and the Home Office.
In the past decade, the number of under-18s treated for cannabis abuse in England has jumped 40 per cent, treatment for all narcotics is up by 20 per cent, the proportion of juvenile drug treatment for cannabis is up from four in five cases to nine in ten and there has been a ‘sharp increase’ in cocaine use among 15-year-olds.
The report adds: ‘While fewer people are using cannabis, those using it experience greater harm.’
Meanwhile, police ignored more than 1,000 people who gathered at Glasgow Green on Friday and openly smoked cannabis in public.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said that the service was not aware of any arrests directly linked to the 420 Hempstock Festival.