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Study Links Marijuana To Crime
01.07.07|Playfuls.com

A British survey finds that half of all crime suspects and 57 percent of young offenders admit recent smoking of marijuana. The Home Office, for the first time, questioned people who had just been arrested, the Daily Mail reported. The rate of marijuana use was significantly higher than expected.

The government downgraded cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug in 2004.

"These alarming statistics raise serious questions about the consequences of the government's chaotic and confused policy on drugs," said David Davis, the Conservative Party's Shadow Home Secretary. "We have long said that drugs fuel all sorts of crime. This is because they both undermine a person's sense of responsibility but also because takers and addicts need money to feed their habit."

While 57 percent of those arrested were identified as problem drinkers, far smaller percentages said they had used heroin or cocaine.