Cannabis should be ‘Class B’ says mental health association

Any decision to keep cannabis as a class C drug was criticised today last week as ‘deeply regrettable’ by Unite/Mental Health Nurses Association. Unite/MHNA said that a reported decision by The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that the drug should remain on the class C list ‘flies in the face of established medical facts and common sense’.

Unite/MHNA said that it wanted cannabis reclassified as a class B drug – a category for more dangerous drugs - which is the same stance as that adopted by Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Unite/MHNA Chair, Andy Lauder said: “There are now much stronger strains of cannabis, such as skunk, entering the UK in response to so-called market forces.

“We utterly reject the reported recommendation from the advisory council that cannabis should remain a class C drug. It has been proved time and time again by well-respected medical studies that there are strong links between significant cannabis use and those suffering from mental health problems, or have a disposition to mental illness.

“The image that cannabis is harmless, or relatively harmless and can be passed around without side effects at smart middle-class dinner parties is very far from the grim reality that mental health professionals have to deal with on a daily basis in psychiatric wards in hospitals across the country, where patients are recovering from psychotic breakdowns induced from excessive cannabis use.”

The government asked the council to review cannabis's legal status amid concerns over stronger forms of it. The council refused to confirm or deny any decision. Its chairman Professor Sir Michael Rawlins said a report would be sent to Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith later this month.