‘Cannabis not as harmful as alcohol’

Two GPs who treat young people for drug addiction believe cannabis use should be decriminalised for both recreational and medicinal use and regulated rather than outlawed.

Cathal Ó Súilliobháin, a Dublin-based GP who has worked in addiction services for 20 years, said the “major negative” of using cannabis “is getting caught”.

“The majority of people who use cannabis have no [health] problem,” he said. “Nobody has ever died from cannabis use,” he said, adding that it was “much less harmful” than alcohol.