Cannabis uptake shows 20% downward trend
A cannabis group has urged the government not to change the classification of cannabis to class B, quoting the marked decline in cannabis users between 2000 and 2007 as a good reason not to try to fix something which isn't broken.
According to the EU Drugs Agency cannabis use amongst British teenagers has shown a solid downward trend since the turn of the new millenium. Its thought this change of public attitude comes as a healthy by-product of controls put in place to further regulate the tobacco industry.
The EU drug experts estimate that 17.5 million young Europeans aged between 15 and 34 used cannabis in the last year - 13% of young adults
- but there are "stronger signals" that its popularity is beginning to wane, especially among British school students. And according to the British Cannabis Lobby, this should be the barometer used to measure the success or failure of British drugs policy, and not "the whims of the Home Secretary".
Cannabis Lobby spokesman Bill Stone said we would do well as a society to look at what it is which has caused tobacco to fall out of favour with British youth, and apply the same methods and reasoning to controlling cannabis use.
He continued, "This isn't a new policy which we're looking to claim as our own idea. Its a tried and proven, and more importantly a successful public health model which could drastically reduce the amount of cannabis which is consumed by British youth at what is probably the most important developmental stage for the young brain".
"In the United States", he continued, " the Marijuana Policy Project have for a long time, quoted the successes shown in reducing American tobacco uptake and use in younger generations".
"These successes are not political spin, but are in fact truthful representations of a public health success story in the making".
"It wasn't all that long ago that tobacco smoking was deemed "cool" by the largest advertising agency in the world - Hollywood, but in recent times, and with tighter controls on strategic product placement in TV and movies, thats a public perception which has been changed, through a program of wide-scale public education"
"Quite literally weaning the public of tobacco advertising", he continued.
"The fact is 17.5 million European people used cannabis in the last year and in doing so without causing themselves harm they learnt that they had been lied to by their government" he said.
"Its fair to assume a percentage of these young people would carry those same rules into deciding whether or not to experiment with other, far more dangerous drugs such as cocaine and heroin. But with a very real opportunity for tragic consequences".
"As things stand currently, by the governments own figures it is a mathematical improbability that a person will be harmed by cannabis, as 17.5 million people have already worked out for themselves".
"But if we remove cannabis from the war on drugs, and allow our young people to decide for themselves using science, not scare tactics. As has proven to be the case with tobacco, cannabis uptake and use figures will continue in their downward trend , and the British youngster would listen a lot more intently to government generated drug awareness.
As a result of this common sense logic, the British Cannabis Lobby would urge the government to reconsider this senseless law change as a matter of the highest priority".
"Either that", concluded Bill Stone", or put the question to the public by way of a national referendum."
"That is, if we still live in a democracy".
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