Cannabis is currently the most widely-used illegal drug in Britain: in the previous year, 30 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women aged 16 to 24 used the drug. Meanwhile, questions continue to be asked: does cannabis have a negative effect on mental health? Are users more likely to progress to harder drugs? Should it be legalised for medicinal purposes? These are among the issues covered in The Cannabis Issue.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Cannabis Issues
Cannabis, Cannabis – in depth, Cannabis facts, Cannabis information, Does cannabis lead to taking other drugs?, Reducing, or stopping, cannabis use, Drug misuse, Vulnerability to hard drugs, Public relaxed on the use of cannabis, Cannabis and mental health, Cannabis and problem behaviour, Cannabis and lung cancer, A smoking gun?, Drug testing at work, The state of the cannabis problem in Europe, The cannabis market – production.
Chapter Two: Cannabis and the Law
Drug laws and licensing, Cannabis – a question of classification, Common misconceptions about reclassification, Why drug laws damage cannabis users’ health, Cannabis users with just 10 joints face 14 years’ jail, Cannabis: why we should care, Cannabis: the science, Your rights on arrest, Cannabis and cannabis extracts, Medicinal cannabis and the law, UK ‘too soft on cannabis dangers’.
Key Facts
Glossary
Additional Resources
Index
Acknowledgements
• Cannabis is one of the world’s most commonly used leisure drugs. It is estimated that at least one person in ten in the UK has used it. (page 3)
• 9.7% of 16- to 59-year-olds reported having used cannabis in the last year. In total over 9 million people in the 16- 59 age group have used it at least once with just over 3 million having used it in the last year. (page 6)
• The trend in UK public opinion, particularly among under-35s, is towards support for decriminalisation of cannabis use (but not for other illegal drugs) though not necessarily full-scale legalisation. (page 7)
• Smoking a joint a couple of nights a week may take 21-28 days to clear the system. Heavy cannabis use may be detected in the system up to 42-56 days later. (page 20)
• Cannabis is by far the most commonly used illegal substance in Europe. Recent population surveys indicate that between 3% and 31% of adults (aged 15 to 64 years) have tried the substance at least once (lifetime use). (page 21)
• An estimated 4 per cent of the world’s adult population consumes cannabis each year, more than all the other illicit drugs combined. In some countries, more than half of the young people polled have tried it. (page 32)
The Cannabis Issue Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 392 2
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