Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs review cannabis classification

Created: 2008-01-31 16:02:46

Today Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, commented on the forthcoming review of the classification of cannabis by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to be held on 5 February 2008:

"SANE has been campaigning for many years over the mounting evidence of direct links between cannabis and later schizophrenia.

"While many people can smoke a joint with no long-term effects, for some young people regular use can double their risk of developing this serious condition, in which a person may hear voices, and experience strange thoughts and paranoid delusions.

"Any decision regarding the drug’s classification needs to take account of the potential damage to the hundreds of people each year who, without cannabis, would not have developed psychotic illness."

-Ends-

Notes for Editors:

SANE is due to give oral evidence to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) at its cannabis review hearing on February 5, 2008. The ACMD is conducting a review of the classification of cannabis following a request by the Home Secretary in July 2007.

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SANE is a leading national mental health charity with the three aims:

• Raising awareness and respect for people with mental illness and their families and securing better services
• Undertaking research into the causes of serious mental illness through The Prince of Wales International Centre for SANE Research
• Providing help and information to those experiencing mental health problems, their families and carers through SANEline and SANEmail.

SANEline is a national out-of-hours telephone helpline offering emotional support and information for people affected by mental health problems. It is open from 1pm to 11pm every day of the year, including the Christmas and New Year period, on 0845 767 8000. SANEmail, SANE’s new email support service, runs alongside our national helpline to provide an additional channel of support to those affected by mental health issues. It can be contacted at sanemail@sane.org.uk.