"We are helping trainees to access treatment, to allow them to stay on the course and fulfil their potential."

"Fifteen" sought help from drug advisers after trainees who had tried to give up cannabis fell back into their old habits as a way of coping with the challenging training.

As is inevitable in a percentage of cases there is always the chance that a trainee could relapse, but Tony Elvin commented; "..trainees who relapse will not be sacked."

"It would be unrealistic and unfair to ask them to leave over cannabis use."

Which begs the question? Is this perhaps the first sign of a change in the perception of your average cannabis user?

Almost 1 in every 3 adults you speak with today, will have smoked cannabis at some stage in their lives. Think about that next time you are in the supermarket, or on the factory floor.

Here in the UK, 1 in 3 of our children has experimented with cannabis by the age of 16. A high percentage carry on after full-time education ceases and to be brutally honest, no one has any idea on how to stop this slide.

The government are suggesting "reclassification" as their answer to the cannabis issue. According to Prime Minister Gordon Brown "We need to show the people who bring misery and suffering to our society, that we will not stand by and let it happen."

More of the same, but nothing new!

In summer 2008, the Labour Government will seek advice from 'experts' before deciding on whether or not the reclassification of cannabis is in the best interests of the UK.

Unfortunately they won't ask any of the people who actually use cannabis.

If successfull in the reclassification, which is supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), cannabis users can expect jail sentences to go from 2 years to 5 years, and drug dealing convictions carrying with them, the possibility of a life sentence.

Which is a step backwards-in-time and we only have to look back at the last 75 years of prohibition to see it as such.

Every day, professionals such as doctors, judges, lawyers, teachers and nurses are losing their careers because they decided to smoke a joint instead of drinking a bellyfull of beer.

With critical trades-people in short supply, some inner-city schools unable to fill critical teaching posts, and the National Health Service spending millions on "bussing in" our nation's nursing staff from foreign shores, can we really afford this constant drain on our most natural of natural resources?

A large percentage of society has decided they wish to use cannabis, and no matter what your own opinion is, surely we need to respect the opinions of others too?

With initiatives like that being run by Jamie Oliver, we can keep hold of our staff whilst at the same time, offering help and guidance to those that need it most.

A pioneering initiative which signals a time to change.

http://cannazine.co.uk

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