Doctors reject drugs law change

Miss Fozzard wants a debate on drugs

Doctors have rejected calls for cannabis and other recreational drugs to be legalised.

The British Medical Association's annual conference in Torquay has also backed calls for advertising of alcohol to be banned.

The drugs debate followed a report from the Institute of Psychiatry, which suggested cannabis users may be seven times more likely to develop mental illness.

Professor Robin Murray told the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists that cannabis consumption increases the risk of schizophrenia.

"This research must not be ignored," he said.

Spark debate

Connie Fozzard, 70, a retired surgeon proposed the motion calling for cannabis and other recreational drugs to be legalised on behalf of doctors in Cornwall.

She said she hoped it would spark a debate among doctors and the general public.

We want the BMA to debate this. We want the public to debate this

Miss Connie Fozzard

She said legalisation could help to cut drug-related crime.

"The government has a responsibility to the public to reduce crime," she told BBC News Online.

"Prohibition does not work. Just look at the experience of the United States when they tried to ban alcohol.

"What arose out of that was Al Capone and armed gangs and that is what is happening now in this country."

"This is also about the nanny state," she said. "Consenting adults should be allowed to do what they like."

Miss Fozzard said legalising drugs would enable the government to put taxes on them and also ensure the quality of drugs.

She suggested many drug users were putting themselves at risk by taking adulterated and low-quality drugs.

"We want the BMA to debate this. We want the public to debate this," she said.

Alcohol ad ban

Doctors backed proposals to ban alcohol advertising, saying it should be treated in the same way as tobacco.

The government has banned tobacco advertising.

Doctors said a ban could help to tackle "the damaging effect alcohol has on the health of our society and the rising levels of binge drinking among the young".

The BMA advised against the legalisation of cannabis when it gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2002.

The government is expected to downgrade cannabis from a Class B to Class C drug next year.

Most people caught in possession of a small amount will have the drugs confiscated and receive a reprimand or warning.

But Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, urged ministers to rethink the move.

"Because so many people use cannabis without ill effect, we have downplayed the severe risks it poses to young people who, as a result, may develop serious mental illness or whose mental illness is made far more destructive by smoking cannabis in their teens."