A NEIGHBOUR asked me if I could arrange a referral for her friend's 14-year-old daughter, who is displaying mental health problems caused, she suspects, by the cannabis she appears to be addicted to.

I was astounded to see on the front page of the Echo a picture of John Denham with the caption I DID SMOKE DOPE: And were we wrong to downgrade it as a dangerous drug?' Senior politicians who are now admitting to having used the drug in their younger years are sending out the wrong message to our youth, they are basically saying hey I used it and I'm OK'.

The fact remains that even then, with ordinary strength cannabis, some users become schizophrenic and those politicians who survived were among the lucky ones, although I do wonder at the amazing ability the electorate have to elect as MPs people capable of displaying grave errors of judgement.

Of course the newer varieties of the drug are many times stronger than the Government's chosen' brand, and the risk of mental illness has probably gone up in the same degree as the increase in strength.

You do not need to be a doctor to see what is happening to our children today as a result of fairly endemic cannabis use in some areas, you must need eyes and ears and the will to use them.

Reading a quality newspaper would probably give an insight of the problem to those lucky enough not to live in or near to one of Southampton's deprived areas.

Perhaps I could answer John Denham's question for him, and at the same time give him a couple more of his Government's howlers to think about.

It was not just wrong to downgrade cannabis, it was incredibly stupid and has probably been a significant factor in the ongoing increase in violent crime we suffer nationally.

Another factor in the increase of violent crime was the reckless loosening of control of the licensed trade and in allowing 24hr opening.

A KEBBELL, Southampton