Hi all.

Below are links of two drug awareness groups.  These have been set up mainly to warn people about the widespread use of Cannabis at house parties along with the suspected dangers of the drug for certain people with mental-health (or potential mental-health) conditions.

The theme here revolves around the fact that a number of people who partake in such activities are mental health workers themselves!

1. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/againstcannabisandmarijuana/

2. http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Against-Cannabis_Keep_Yourself_Safe/

In the ‘Againstcannabis_Keep_Yourself_Safe’ group, (link 2), there is a case study of a service-user whom was actually invited to a house party by mental-health workers, who then offered them the drug.  Someone else at the party had made them feel stupid for not knowing that Cannabis would be on the premises.

I appreciate that to many this just tells you what you already know, however, the case study is based on a true story of a person who didn’t know what to expect.  If it can happen to one person it can of course happen to others also.

Due to this, I urge people to not just assume that everyone would know this in advance. Also please think on, if there is anyone you know who might possibly benefit from this information. It may not seem like much but it could make a big difference for someone. (For example someone may be too embarrassed to admit that they didn’t know the drug would be being used and fear that exposure to this may effect their mental health).

There is the even more serious aspect of long-term community sections, which work in a similar way to parole from prison. As Cannabis is illegal, people unfortunate enough to be on such sections could literally face years on a secure ward if caught in the possession of the drug!   If that sounds too far-fetched then I am sorry, but it is true!!

Others on these types of sections sometimes have to give random urine-samples and if they have been next to a group of people partaking in a drug such as Cannabis (which is after-all airborne), then they run an outside risk of testing positive due to passive smoking.  Again this could have disastrous implications for those on certain sections.

Please also see this website: http://nagasartcommunity.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/hello-world/#comments

A staff member who works (or at least used to work) at the above Mental-Health Project, smoked Cannabis around a service-user.  I have added a comment on each of the pages, in a similar way to here to try and get the message across. My message appears at the bottom of the page.

Regards,