This week saw the release of two major studies suggesting that, contrary to popular opinion, cannabis is a potentially harmful drug. A review of many different studies of cannabis, published in the prestigious journal The Lancet suggests that smoking cannabis when young leads to a greater chance of developing a psychotic disease such as schizophrenia later in life. And a New Zealand study, published in the journal Thorax suggested that smoking one joint a day does major damage to the small airways of the lungs. Those who have been campaigning for the legalisation of cannabis have always claimed that it is less harmful than other common - and legal - drugs of abuse, namely tobacco and alcohol. One of my most influential teachers when I was at medical school said that if tobacco and alcohol had been recently discovered they would never have been licenced for use - and he's quite correct. That's what I find somewhat hypocritical about the whole approach to research around the potential harms of illegal drugs. Although we well know, to our cost as a society, that tobacco and alcohol, are harmful, studies showing the harms of illegal drugs get far more press. And the newspapers and magazines that run popular stories about them will continue to advertise alcohol as long as they legally can, and would advertise cigarettes if they were able. Don't get me wrong - I admit to being rabidly anti-smoking - but I certainly enjoy a glass of wine (or two), but I do think that we need to sort out our priorities when it comes to warning young people about the dangers of drugs of abuse.
Dr Bridget Farham, editor: https://www.bizcommunity.com