Marijuana Addictions Double in UK since Downgrade of Drugs’ Status April 15, 2009
Posted by inrecovery in : Addcition, Narcotics, Substance Abuse, U.K. , trackback
Recent reports from the UK have shown that since Marijuana was originally downgraded from its C class status in 2004 to the less serious B class, the number of new admittances to NHS treatment centers for cannabis addiction has doubled. This conclusion can be accurately made in hindsight, because although Marijuana’s C class was reinstated earlier this year, the statistics of abuse and required treatment still reflect the doubling.
The recent figures showed that new cases for Marijuana addiction rose from a previous yearly average of 13,408 to 26,287 in the first three years of the downgrade. The figures also reflected the new cases of Marijuana addiction for individuals under 18, which was first recorded in 2005 at 9,043 and rose to 12,021 in the first two years. Marijuana was initially downgraded in the UK five years ago, by former Home Secretary David Blunkett, in an effort to curb arrests for possession, even though the penalties for dealing Marijuana were made more severe at the same time.
Some experts attribute the increase in addiction not to the class downgrade, but rather to the steady increase in THC potency that Marijuana has contained in recent years. Still, most medics, anti-drug campaigners and law enforcement agree that the failure of the policy was due to a false illusion that Marijuana was somehow less harmful because it was legal. One such person is Norman Wells of Family and Youth Concern, who said that the downgrade created, “confusing and dangerous messages about the drug’s supposed safety.”
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