Cannabis users warned as skunk floods market

Cannabis users are increasingly opting for high-strength skunk because weaker varieties of the drug have been frozen out of the market, campaigners warned today.

A report by charity DrugScope says that in some areas, skunk is so dominant it is almost impossible to obtain herbal cannabis or resin.

The annual assessment, DrugScope's Street Drug Trends Survey, also highlighted the increasing use of diazepam as an alternative to heroin.

The survey of drug use and prices - based on evidence from drug workers, police and other experts from 20 towns and cities across the country including London - said prices have remained roughly stable over the past 12 months with cocaine costing around £42 a gram, ecstasy £2.30 a pill and standard quality cannabis at £89 an ounce.

However, it added that skunk, which is often around three times the strength of ordinary cannabis, was dominating the cannabis market.

Skunk's prevalence and its damaging effects on a user's mental health were two of the reasons for the Government to reclassify cannabis from a class C to a class B drug this year.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, said that although some people would scale back the amount they took to limit the effects of skunk, the fact that it was now difficult to obtain weaker varieties of cannabis could heighten the dangers.

"We've been aware of changes in the UK cannabis market for some time, but it is concerning that in some areas of the country, skunk now seems to dominate," he said. "Some respondents said it was difficult to buy lower strength herbal cannabis or resin. We believe many users will reduce the amount of cannabis they smoke to mitigate the effects of the increase in strength. However, it's important that people are aware of the potential risks and harms involved in using cannabis."

DrugScope also brought attention to the vast increase in diazepam.

Known also as Valium or, formerly, "mother's little helper", it said the tranquilliser is growing in popularity among drug addicts because of the shortage of heroin on the domestic market. It added that the shortage was surprising given the recent record production levels of the drug in Afghanistan.

Diazepam - launched by Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche in 1963 - was once one of the world's most widely prescribed drugs.

It is now a class C drug and DrugScope said police and customs seizures of illicit diazepam have rocketed from 300,000 pills seized between July 2003 and June 2006 to two million between July 2006 and this June. It added that a 10 milligram dose costs only £1.

Usage was up in 15 of the 20 towns surveyed and Mr Barnes said: "The rise in the use of illicitly imported diazepam is concerning, particularly as drug users face a high risk of overdose when using the drug in combination with other drugs such as methadone and alcohol. With the proliferation of counterfeit diazepam comes unpredictable quality and strength."

He added: "A heroin shortage might instinctively appear a positive development, especially as it can lead to more people entering treatment but it can bring its own problems.

"Users may be more inclined to inject rather than smoke the drug during times of shortage or poor quality.

"And there is a higher risk of overdose when the heroin market readjusts to more normal levels of supply."