CANNABIS AND MENTAL HEALTH

Motion Text

That this House supports the view of the mental health charity Rethink that reclassifying cannabis will not in itself lead to a decrease in the number of people who use it; notes that the proportion of young people using cannabis has fallen since it was reclassified in January 2004 from 25.3 per cent. of 16 to 24-year-olds in 2003-04 to 20.9 per cent. in 2006-07; believes that any funding allocated to reclassification would be better spent on drugs work that focuses on mental health risk and not the law as the main lever to reduce use; and therefore urges the Government to increase the scale of public education campaigns and research on cannabis use and mental health and not to change the legal classification of the drug.