A BOLTON MP has welcomed a report calling for small scale cannabis growers to escape with a police warning.

Bolton South East MP Brian Iddon said it is wrong that thousands of youngsters who cultivate their own marijuana plants are being criminalised.

His comments follow the release of a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which revealed that up to half of the cannabis consumed in the UK may now be home grown.

It also called for punishments for cultivation to be altered.

Dr Iddon said: "I have always believed it is wrong to criminalise people for using cannabis especially young people who use it for recreational purposes.

"I do not recommend using cannabis but I don't think hundreds of thousands of young people should be punished for growing a few plants for their own use."

According to the Rowntree group, 243 people were jailed in 2000 for growing cannabis.

The report also found variations in the way different police forces treated the Crime.

Some charged growers with production -- carrying a mandatory seven year sentence for a third conviction -- while others used the lesser offence of cultivation. Home secretary David Blunkett is to take the final steps towards reclassifying cannabis from Class B to Class C this summer -- meaning that possession will only be an arrestable offence in extreme circumstances.

According to the British Crime Survey, just under half of 16 to 29-year-olds admit trying cannabis.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "Possession of cannabis is still illegal. Disrupting crack cocaine and heroin markets is our main priority but nevertheless we still pursue cannabis dealers. Cannabis isn't a harmless drug and among other things can cause mental illness."