Fears over super-strong cannabis

Published on Tuesday 5 February 2008 21:10

SUPER-STRONG "skunk" is now dominating the cannabis market in Britain, a government advisor warned, as officials met to consider the case for regrading the drug.

The highly potent strain is two to three times as strong as other cannabis and accounts for up to 80 per cent of the market, up from 15 per cent six years ago.

The findings, based on Home Office studies south of the Border, were disclosed at the first of a two-day meeting of the government's official advisers on drugs policy.

The Scotsman has learned concern over the strength of the drug has also been raised by the country's chief constables, who have written to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to say that cannabis is "getting stronger".

The independent panel has been asked to consider whether cannabis should be returned to a class B drug after it was downgraded four years ago.

Gordon Brown has signalled he would like it to be upgraded after evidence that the new stronger strains were linked to mental health problems.

Dr Les King, an adviser to the Home Office scientific development branch, said several hundred samples seized by police on the streets in just the last weeks showed levels of skunk, or sinsemilla, had rocketed, while cannabis resin had slumped from 60-70 per cent of the market in 2002 to about 20 per cent.

Traditional herbal cannabis now accounts for just 5 per cent of seizures, compared with 15 per cent six years ago, he added.

The rise of skunk coincided with the emergence of Vietnamese gangs, he said.

"Traditional herbal cannabis has almost been squeezed out of the market," said Dr King.

David Potter, of GW Pharmaceuticals, who has conducted a separate survey of samples from a number of police forces, said he had found a similar swing towards stronger cannabis.

"People are moving towards sinsemilla, which is a much, much more potent product. This has the potential to change the cannabis scene quite a lot."

In a report sent to the committee last month, Scotland's senior officers highlighted research linking cannabis to mental health problems.

Scotland's national drugs co-ordinator, Detective Superintendent Willie MacColl, said: "

We have compelling evidence that cannabis is linked to mental ill health and young people may not be aware of those dangers."