Drugs: YOUNG KNOW RISKS

ONE vital fact leaps from the Sunday Mirror survey.

The vast majority of young people may try cannabis, but never progress onto the more serious drugs like crack cocaine and heroin.

In fact, young people know the risks of the individual drugs better than older people.

That's why they know that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco - which is in line with what the government's own advisers are now saying.

They know that cannabis isn't as risky as drugs like heroin and crack. And they make their choices on the evidence they have.

That's one of the reasons why the reclassification of cannabis is so important - it makes sure young people get information they can trust.

A bigger worry is that some young people may not realise that it is still illegal to smoke the drug in public. Theoretically they could still face a two year prison sentence.

It's no surprise that 53 per cent of young people would like to see dope legalised - principally because they don't want to be criminalised themselves. What young people want is not to have to worry about getting a criminal record for something they see as not that harmful.

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