Increasing numbers of people in the UK are becoming dependent on cannabis, The Observer has learnt.
UK Department of Health figures show that drug centers are reporting growing numbers coming to them with problems related to the drug. Nine percent of all those attending clinics cited cannabis as the main reason they were attending, rather than any of the other drugs they were using, twice as many as a decade ago.
With a separate study by the World Health Organization showing that one in five 15-year-olds in the UK smokes cannabis -- more than twice the world average -- there is concern that many are becoming addicted to the drug earlier in life.
Although government experts insist cannabis is non-addictive, there is growing evidence suggesting that regular users of high-strength varieties may develop a chronic dependence.
There is also increasing clinical evidence linking cannabis use to mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, psychosis, anxiety and depression. US research shows that 80 percent of new cases of psychosis in some hospitals have been triggered by cannabis use.
Someone who starts using cannabis aged 15 is at more than four times the risk of developing schizophrenia over the next 11 years than someone starting smoking the drug at 18. And 18-year-olds who have used cannabis at least 50 times have a seven-fold increased risk of developing psychosis in the next 15 years.
Last month The Priory, one of Britain's leading addiction treatment centers, responded to an increase in inquiries about cannabis dependency by publishing a new leaflet for users and their relatives.
The group's medical director, Michael Rowlands, said: "There is no doubt that cannabis is addictive and that we are seeing an increase in dependence, especially among the young and those smoking the stronger varieties of cannabis.
"The reason there is still some debate is that most chemical dependencies have severe withdrawal symptoms. In cannabis they tend to be quite mild. However, all the other indicators of addictiveness are present."
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