Alcohol and tobacco "worse than cannabis"

Medix UK, a website operated for the medical profession, has conducted a survey over nearly 1,000 doctors which shows that the vast majority believe that cannabis is far less addictive and considerably less of a health problem than either alcohol or tobacco. Although there remain serious reservations about the safety of cannabis, and a great deal has been said in recent years about its potential to induce psychosis, the majority of doctors would be in favour of relaxing the present laws on cannabis and would prescribe it were it legal to do so.

The doctors surveyed were asked, given their experience with patients of tobacco, alcohol, prescribed drugs, illegal drugs other than cannabis, and cannabis itself, which substance they believed to be the most addictive:

• 58% view tobacco as the most addictive

• 28% view cannabis as the least addictive

• 72% view tobacco as the worst health problem

• 44% view cannabis as the least serious health problem

The survey showed that doctors see far more patients with alcohol and tobacco dependency or related health problems than with cannabis. Their answers showed that:

• 64% see at least 10 patients per month with tobacco-related problems

• 24% see at least 10 patients per month with alcohol-related problems

• 2% see at least 10 patients per month with cannabis-related problems

54% of doctors believed that current cannabis laws were too strict. 32% responded that they believe that cannabis should be legalised.

As far as the long-term safety of cannabis is concerned, one doctor commented, "to say that cannabis is safer than alcohol or tobacco is no great boast". Although 88% of doctors said that they would prescribe cannabis for a grave illness such as terminal illnesses if it became legal, only 20% would prescribe it for pain relief of minor problems. The survey indicates that the majority of doctors have professional experience that cannabis use can lead to dependency on other drugs. Half of the doctors questioned said that they had had patients to whom this had happened, while only 30% had not.

A significant number of doctors volunteered their experiences of cannabis triggering serious mental health problems in patients. The other concerns mentioned were:

• Driving and cannabis

• Extension of available means of drug dependency or abuse

• Lack of reliable scientific studies about the medicinal benefits and long term effects of cannabis

• Links between tobacco smoking and cannabis

• Long active life of cannabis in the body (one week half life)

• Memory and intellectual loss associated with cannabis use

• Possible link between cannabis smoking, cancer and lung disease

• Pregnancy and cannabis

Many will see the Medix survey as an important contribution to the debate about cannabis legalisation. Cannabis appears to be less of a health problem and less addictive than alcohol or tobacco in the experience of the vast majority of doctors. Most of them seem to see cannabis as a potentially valuable drug for treating serious illnesses and are in favour of some change in the present state of the law. There are, however, serious concerns voiced about the safety of long-term cannabis use and its potential for contributing to serious mental illness.