An awareness campaign is needed to correct the attitude that cannabis is relatively harmless, a drug taskforce has said.
Dublin’s north inner city drug task force is planning a local campaign to educate people about the newer, and more potent, forms of cannabis.
The taskforce — which traditionally worked to combat the use of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine — is now setting up a series of workshops to address perceptions about cannabis.
This follows anecdotal reports and a recent online survey of drug projects highlighting the issue of high-strength cannabis.
Taskforce co-ordinator Mel MacGiobúin said: "From a general community point of view — particularly young people and older people — they refer to anything cannabis-based as hash [the traditional resin form of cannabis].
"There’s a tendency not to see it so much as a problem given the wider context of harder drugs, like heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 05/07/12