Walk on to any mental health ward as I have and you will be confronted with the tragic victims of our lackadaisical attitude towards cannabis.
There is mounting evidence to show the drug is having a horrific effect on the young, not least the Mail’s disturbing story today. A third of psychosis cases in London are the result of smoking skunk, according to research. Another study by Oxford University showed it increases the risk of depression in teenagers by 40 per cent.
They join the hundreds of other studies which show that, far from being the harmless substance campaigners would have us believe, cannabis is a dangerous, damaging intoxicant that has a profound effect on the structure and function of the brain.
We don’t enforce the law on cannabis, which means parents who are bravely trying to steer their children away from it are unsupported by the criminal justice system, writes Dr Max Pemberton
The wards are littered with similar examples of lives wrecked, sometimes for a short time, sometimes permanently. I have seen dozens of people who have become psychotic using cannabis, and the number has increased recently as the stronger forms have become more widely available.
The lives ruined by cannabis aren’t on display for everyone to see because they’re locked away in mental hospitals.
DR MAX THE MIND DOCTOR: The wards are full of lives wrecked by the evil drug that is cannabis
