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THE number of children treated for mental disorders caused by smoking
cannabis has quadrupled since the government downgraded the legal status of
the drug, according to a leading drug charity.
Since April last year, three months after police stopped arresting anyone
found in possession of small amounts of the drug, the overall number of
users treated for such conditions rose 42%, according to data from Addaction.
But it is the figure for children that will cause the greatest alarm.
Addaction treated 1,575 cannabis users for psychotic problems between April
2004 and April 2005, of whom 181 were aged 15 or below - a rise of 136 on
the previous year.
Many experts blame the relaxation of the law and the wider use of skunk, a
high-strength variant of cannabis.
"A minority of people who take it repeatedly and over a long period,
particularly people who take it as adole
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