Cannabis reclassified 'for mental health reasons'
27 August 2008
 Prison terms for people in possession of cannabis will be increased to a maximum of five years in 2009. One of the reasons for the government's planned change to existing laws surrounding the drug - which is currently classified as class C - is the impact cannabis has on the mental health of regular users.Cannabis will be upgraded to class B, with a maximum five-year prison sentence for possession and 14 years for dealing.Richard Colwell from Sane told BBC's 1Xtra: "It's not just the possible impact on the individual but also the broader impact as well that it might have on people they are close to."A study carried out in New Zealand found that people using cannabis before the age of 15 were much more likely to develop schizophrenia before the age of 26.Meanwhile, a study in Munich found that cannabis raised the risk of psychosis in users with no history of the disorder from 16 to 25 per cent.  © Adfero Ltd
© 2008 Adfero Ltd. All rights reserved. Any views and opinions expressed in news articles are not those of Craegmoor Limited and its associated companies. News supplied by Adfero DirectNews.
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