HAVE readers noticed how the Government likes to talk tough on drugs?

It speaks of waging war on drug dealers, of breaking the spiral of addiction and of dealing mercilessly with all those who would push drugs on children.

A Drugs Bill was introduced last year, its provision plainly said "all dealers caught near schools will face harsher sentences and judges will be able to treat being arrested near a school, or using children as couriers, as an aggravating factor when passing sentence".

But before David Blunkett had to hastily quit as Home Secretary, and in spite of him appearing as the tough guy with talk of cracking down on dealers, it was his decision in 2002, which was to downgrade the classification of cannabis.

It is of course right to be ruthless with those who target children, but how does this message square with the common belief, often put about these days, that cannabis is a relatively harmless drug and one whose use the police should ignore?

The Government may talk about getting tough with those who go near schools, peddling this poison, yet, according to a recent survey, more schoolchildren in England have experimented with cannabis than anywhere else in Europe.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction say that 42 per cent of boys and 38 per cent of girls aged 15 in England have tried cannabis, compared with less than 10 per cent in Greece, Malta, Sweden and Norway. England also has the highest number of 15 year olds who are heavy cannabis users, ie: who use the drug 40 or more times a year. Figures such as these show the clearest indication yet as to the magnitude of this countrys drug problem.

Contrary to those whose apparent impression is that cannabis is comparatively harmless, the British Medical Journal says that the earlier that young people form a cannabis habit, the more likely they are to fall prey to mental illnesses later in life. What has been proved, however, is that the main weapon in the war on drugs is education.

To be effective - that education needs to be simple and above all truthful. If children are given the facts - and the facts of what drugs can do are all too clear - then the battle may start to be won. The mixed messages from some politicians of downgrading the classification of drugs, or the talk of legalising drugs are, in my opinion, reckless and a sure route to wrecking even more lives.

Mrs Jean Allison

Whalley Road

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