Is it time to stir the pot debate?

Public health chiefs in Wales have called for a "mature" debate on whether to decriminalise illegal drugs. The call comes after new research from the Netherlands has revealed that teenagers who smoke cannabis are six times more likely to use "harder" drugs later in their life.

But studies in countries which have not followed Dutch liberalism, have shown cannabis use is significantly higher. This would, theoretically, suggest that the number of people who move from cannabis to other illicit drugs is also higher.

And it follows the shocking case of an 11-year-old girl in Glasgow who collapsed at school after smoking heroin - she told doctors she had been using the Class A drug for two months.

Dr Paul Walker, PHA Cymru - the Welsh public health association - said the time was now right to have a frank and open debate about decriminalising drugs in the UK. He has urged politicians not to shy away from the subject, arguing that the next general election was far enough away in the future to allow such discussions to take place, without them having an impact on MPs' political careers.

Dr Walker said, "Difficult as it might be we need to have this debate - a mature open debate with all evidence and all angles considered and weighed in the balance of the public good. It is a depressing fact that most politicians seem to find the topic too difficult to handle and shy away at great speed from such a debate. And now is exactly the right time to have such a debate, when the next general election is years away and government is more amenable to discussing controversial issues."

Evidence from Holland, published in the British Medical Journal, indicates that teenagers who use cannabis are six times more likely to use hard drugs later in life than non-users. Dr Walker said, "The Dutch policy is based on the premise that cannabis use is different to hard drug use and that the one does not lead to the other.

"It would now seem that this premise may be erroneous and that the Dutch authorities should rethink their policy of tolerance.

"However, the findings of this study have to be set against some other evidence which is probably even more significant, namely, that a tolerant attitude to cannabis use and availability leads to lower use of cannabis than a restrictive attitude.

"So the proportion of adults who have ever used cannabis in Holland is in the order of 12% whereas in the United States and Australia, both of which have much more restrictive policies, the proportions are twice and three times as high respectively.

"This latter finding reflects that well-known phenomenon that young people are much more attracted to things which are forbidden than to things which are generally accepted.

"This is part of adolescent rebellion, which is a normal part of growing up. And this phenomenon must be taken into account in all our health promotion policies relating to the young.

"One possible lesson is that we should decriminalise cannabis use too on the grounds that this would immediately reduce the level of use among youngsters and reduce the risk of severe mental disturbance among this particularly susceptible group.

"Many would think that this would be a step too far and would be opposed to following the Dutch example.

"It would indeed be a serious step to take and should not be done without a full debate about the meaning and relevance of the Dutch experience and the pros and cons of decriminalisation."

Home Secretary Charles Clarke last month announced that cannabis would remain a Class C drug in England and Wales - it was downgraded from Class B two years ago. He said he had been influenced by evidence that cannabis use in England and Wales had fallen among 16 to 24-year-olds from 28% in 1998 to less than 24% in 2000.

He said, "The level of classification is only one among the issues to be addressed and that priority needs to be given to proper enforcement of the law, to education and to campaigning against the use of cannabis."

Madeleine Brindley
6 February 2006

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