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Cannabis
| Last updated: 21.12.05 |
Cannabis can be smoked, usually with tobacco, eaten, drunk in a ‘tea’ or snorted as a snuff. The drug affects the central nervous system, and as a result, users may experience relief from pain, feel light-headed, relaxed, or sleepy. The drug can also stimulate appetite; the so-called ‘munchies’. However, cannabis is also known to impair co-ordination, can cause nausea and vomiting, as well as anxiety and paranoia, which in long-term use may become chronic.
Legal status
The supply and possession of cannabis is illegal in the UK and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Even though possession of cannabis was recently down-graded from a ‘Class B’ drug to a ‘Class C’ drug, supplying the drug still carries the risk of a prison sentence of up to seven years, whilst possession for any reason could result in a two year sentence. Similarly, growing cannabis at home for your own use could also lead to a prison sentence. In practice, the police may issue a caution to people caught in possession of the drug, and with the downgrading of the drug to Class C, it is possible that only persistent offenders are likely to find themselves in court.
Medicinal use
Medicinal use of cannabis is illegal and therefore there is little verifiable evidence of the drug’s effects when used in the management of chronic health conditions. However, cannabis is widely used by people for medicinal reasons, often for the relief of pain, or as an appetite stimulant. In 1996, a clinical trial in San Francisco found that people with HIV wasting disease who used cannabis were more likely to put on weight. The drug is also widely used to relieve insomnia and the symptoms of anxiety and stress. It is also used by people with multiple sclerosis as a muscle relaxant.
In recent years a small number of people have been prosecuted for growing and consuming cannabis for medicinal purposes. In most cases a suspended sentence has been issued, but recently a jury returned a not guilty verdict, and in another example a judge threw out the case.
The UK Government is currently reviewing the evidence on cannabis use. Cannabis extracts, called cannabinoids, are already legally used in licensed pharmaceuticals, mostly pain killers and muscle relaxants, but these can only be obtained on prescription. These products do not make users feel ‘high’ or have any of the other narcotic effects of cannabis.
Risks of cannabis use
Short-term risks of cannabis use include anxiety, panic, and paranoia. Memory and attention may also be affected, as might the ability to drive or operate machinery. Research suggests that cannabis use in teenagers is a predictor of later mental health problems. Use during pregnancy has been associated with low birth-weight babies.
If the drug is smoked, long-term use is known to cause many smoking-related respiratory and cardiovascular diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and heart disease. This may be of particular concern to people with HIV who have suffered lung damage from TB, or to those with increased lipids from anti-HIV medication, as this may increase the risk of heart attack. There is also evidence that smoking cannabis can cause cancers of the mouth, throat and lungs.
Chronic loss of memory and shortened attention span have been observed in long-term users of the drug, in some cases even after they have ceased, and there is evidence that long-term users can develop psychological dependency on the drug. In a recent survey, daily use of cannabis by teenagers was found to substantially increase the risk of developing depression later in life and the use of cannabis has also been linked with an increased risk of schizophrenia.
It is not known how cannabis reacts with anti-HIV drugs. A small American study found that cannabis use did not impact on the effectiveness of the protease inhibitor indinavir, even though the drugs use the same mechanism to pass through the body. Like any mood and consciousness- altering drug, cannabis may have an impact on people’s ability to adhere to their medication schedule and people planning to use cannabis, or any other recreational drug, may need to develop strategies to help them take their medication at the right time and in the right way.
NAM reminds readers that cannabis use is illegal in the UK. This Factsheet has been produced with UK law in mind. Readers in other countries should be aware that the legal status of cannabis use may differ to that which is described in this Factsheet.