‘TALKING ABOUT CANNABIS ACTION GROUP – CHILDREN
AND TEENAGERS
’
February 2008
THE TALKING ABOUT
CANNABIS ORGANISATION
Patron: Baroness Anelay of St Johns,
Opposition Chief Whip, House of Lords
Aims:
to provide, and
stimulate debate on, cannabis prevention education and
treatment, using sound scientific and medical evidence, with
special emphasis on 'skunk' cannabis in relation to children and
teenagers.
Objectives:
Talking About
Cannabis is being formalized as a company to ensure that
education, treatment, media coverage and legislation is fully
informed by sound scientific and medical evidence, and promotes
the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for children, free from
cannabis and other drug misuse, over that of continued
dependency. By doing so, we are dedicated to continue raising
awareness of the dangers of smoking cannabis in childhood and
adolescence.
This will be
achieved by the following:
·
Lectures
and lessons to schools and colleges – both to students and
staff.
·
Publication of literature eg information leaflets on cannabis,
teachers' resources on producing high-quality preventative
cannabis education.
·
Workshops to parents and carers concerning the dangers of
cannabis to the young.
·
Conferences to health and educational professionals.
·
Support
groups/facilities for families and users, including continued
support for TAC Parental Action Group.
·
Advice
to government, schools, medical profession, police, social
services, media including administrative support for the new All
Party Political Group (APPG) on Cannabis and Children being set
up this month in parliament.
·
Launch
of a health education campaign sponsored by corporate donations,
grants and re-investment of profits from main income-generating
business strands eg conferences.
IF YOU COULD HELP AS A VOLUNTEER,
PLEASE CONTACT US NOW.
WE
PARTICULARLY NEED FUND-RAISERS
January
2008
TAC are going to be secretariat to a new All-Party Political
Group which is being set up imminently in
Westminster to focus specifically on Cannabis and Children. The
aim is to stimulate debate on prevention cannabis education with
an aim of abstinence among children and teenagers. More news
when we have it.
May 2007
A new education
and campaigning group, linked to this web-site, was
launched by parents concerned that government promises to tackle
the health risks of cannabis have failed to materialise, leaving
their children vulnerable to its harmful effects.
Click
here to sign up to show your support
It is chaired
by myself, Debra Bell, the founder of the site
www.talkingaboutcannabis.com. The group is backed by mental
health charities, teachers and experts on drug misuse.
The steering
group comprises parents Lynne McGowan, Mandi Cooper, Karen
Richardson, Elizabeth Burton-Phillips,
Tessa Kennedy, April Edwards, Jeremy Edwards,
Rosemary Burns
Anthony and Susan Smeeton, Carol Taylor and myself.
They are
supported by the following advisors:
Anthony Seldon,
Master Wellington College
Marjorie
Wallace, Sane
Mary Brett, UK
Spokesperson for EURAD
Jonathan Owen,
Independent on Sunday
Sian Griffiths,
Sunday Times
Christopher
Chope MP
The Maranatha Organisation
Dr Ian Oliver
Dr Hans-Christian Raabe
Camila Batmanghelidjh
Peter Walker, schools drugs testing expert
Marilyn Shaw, Luke and Marcus Trust
Graham Brady MP
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Edward Garnier MP
Tim Loughton MP
We are most grateful to all members of
our committee for supporting the work we are doing.
WHY FORM AN
ACTION GROUP?
When cannabis
was reclassified from B to C in 2004 the government promised a
‘massive’ public education campaign, highlighting the dangers of
cannabis, but all we have had is a low key TV advertisement.
Meanwhile ‘skunk’ has entered the market and we have a drugs
epidemic. Thousands of families are in crisis, and have little
or no support. As the Chief Constable of Merseyside said
recently in the media: ‘an elephant has entered the room and
no-one has noticed’.
The new group
will now:
-
Seek an
urgent meeting with ministers in the Home Office and
Departments of Health and Education.
-
Press
ministers to make good their promise of a “massive”
education campaign
-
Facilitate
the development of new educational tools and models for
schools, designed to create a consensus on how to reduce the
numbers of young people using cannabis.
We are delighted
that the government and medical profession now recognise the
dangers of cannabis use among children and teenagers, but we
know that not enough is being done to get that message across.
We need more
public awareness about the long-term effects on mental health of
this harmful drug
– it’s not what people were smoking in the 60s, and users are
getting younger. It is in every secondary school, and there are
even incidences of children as young as eight smoking in primary
school. We also need more research into the kind of health
messages that young people will listen to and act upon. We need
to look to prevention, and we need to begin in primary school
and continue into secondary education. Parents need
well-delivered up to the minute education too, with support
systems in place. The effect on families has been dramatic and
many are struggling, feeling alone and overwhelmed. Siblings are
affected, family relationships are often put under intolerable
strain. The problem is huge and exists across the social
classes.
Mental health
charity Rethink welcomed the launch of the new body. Director of
Public Affairs Paul Corry said: “This is just what is needed –
people with real experience explaining the dangers and pressing
the government for action.”
The objectives
of the group will be:
·
Awareness-raising campaign – to increase publicity about the
issue of widespread cannabis misuse amongst children and
teenagers (particularly ‘skunk’)
·
Lobby Campaign – to persuade government to invest in
high-profile public health campaign, about the dangers of
smoking cannabis in childhood and teen years.
·
This public health campaign would be also in place as well-
designed drug education in schools and colleges, using effective
marketing techniques, and would also include support for
teachers and parents.
The
Reclassification Question
The effect of
reclassifying cannabis in 2004 along with the ACPO guidelines
for a ‘softly, softly’ approach in relation to possession of
cannabis, has sent out a message which was seen by many as
almost legalisation of the drug.
People often
refer to cannabis as having been declassified. The government
ignored advice from mental health charities and groups when it
did this, and it’s quite apparent that cannabis and its
consumption among the young has become a serious social problem.
All of us on
the steering committee have personal experience of living with a
teenager who has abused cannabis, and seen results first-hand,
often with tragic results. Some of us have lost a child, all of
us have seen the personalities of their teenage children change
through their consumption of this dangerous drug, as they sink
into mental illness. Cannabis is also a ‘gateway’ drug, research
indicates that it seems to ‘prime’ the brain for stronger drugs.
Many of our children have moved onto harder Class A drugs, often
with horrendous results.
Last week the
Institute of Psychiatry held a conference, underlining the
causal connection between cannabis and serious mental illness.
We hope by setting up this Lobby Movement that this message,
which has been heralded by the press recently and at conferences
like the one at Wellington College, will raise public awareness
and alert the government to the seriousness of the problem,
which needs urgent attention. We also seek to address the
prejudice of those who consider that it’s a fuss about nothing.
The emphasis of
this new group is on the young. This is about children and
cannabis, and particularly children and skunk. We are not
launching a war against cannabis, but we are concentrating on
skunk misuse among the young.
The people in
our group are well-placed to assist in areas such as health,
education and publicity. By coming together we can come up with
unified aims and write a formal policy document, each one of us
bowing to the others’ expertise. We shall be setting out in
broad terms the problems with skunk, and intend to produce a
written manifesto which will be sent to all political parties –
we shall be asking them what they are going to do about the
problem.
What can you
do?
You can
write/email your MP, telling him or her about the issue as it
affects you and your community. Write to your Primary Care Trust
and to the Police, to your local council and register your
concerns.
Join our
mailing list on this site, and keep updated with the work that
we are doing. Contact us with any ideas you may have.
If you are a
parent or guardian, please see our page where you can sign up to
join a local support group and buddy system for parents and
carers. We need more people to help set up groups across the UK.
These groups may then feel they can feedback to the Lobby Group,
so we have up to date information of what is happening in your
area. Please contact us now through the site.
If you are a
teacher you can look into random drugs testing as a possibility
in your school – the Department of Education & Skills has
details of how to set up a voluntary scheme. Drugs testing works
– it is an effective deterrent, but many schools are nervous
about getting involved, concerned that it sends out a message
that a schools has a drugs problem. The evidence would indicate
the opposite to be true. Look into it.
If you are a
business – could you help us with sponsorship? At the moment, we
are working on a voluntary basis, but we require funding and
would love to hear from anyone who could help.
© Debra Bell
2007
