WORKSHOP 02
Cannabis and Young People

Robin Murray, Professor of Psychiatry, Head of Division of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry, Kings College, London

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Cannabis has been known to have profound effects on the mind for at least 4,000 years. Some societies have regarded cannabis as a sacred boon for mankind, offering respite from the tribulations of everyday life while others have demonized it as inevitably leading to “reefer madness”. As the 20th century progressed, fewer and fewer people regarded cannabis as harmful, and by the 1990s, the prevailing medical wisdom held that smoking cannabis did not cause long-term harm to health. Recently however, cannabis has re-emerged as a potentially harmful drug. A number of reports have shown that heavy use of cannabis increases the risk of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, can impair memory and may lead on to use of harder drugs. Even though these effect only a small minority of users, they are of importance as cannabis is the world’s third most popular recreational drug, after alcohol and tobacco.