AT around 9:15am on Friday 10 March 06, officers from Merseyside Police executed a search warrant at an address on Lethbridge Road in Southport, Merseyside.  Officers entered the address and recovered a hydroponics system worth about £30,000 and a substantial number of cannabis plants.  A 29 year old man, from the Lancashire area, was arrested on suspicion of the cultivation of cannabis.  Neighbourhood Inspector for Southport North East, Martin Woosey said:- "Thanks to information received from the local community we were able to uncover this cannabis factory.  This operation underlines our determination to bring the people involved in the supply of controlled drugs to justice. We are committed to ridding the area of this menace,  drugs and also providing advice and support to those whose lives they affect.  I want to reassure people in our communities that we will do everything in our power to rid the local area of drug dealing and I would appeal to them to continue to contact us with any information they may have so that we can act on it.  We rely heavily on the information provided to us by members of the local community and Merseyside Police acts on all information received."

Fact File:- Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Britain and is an naturally occurring drug.   The drug, made from the cannabis plant (Cannabis Sativa) resin, which is extracted from the buds and flowers.

Cannabis comes in a few different forms those being resin, dried herbs and liquid. In the UK it is mainly resin that you find being used. The drug has acquired various different names, some due to the strength of the end result. The most common street names of the drug are:- Blow, Wacky Backy, Ganja, Dope, Hash or Hashish, Grass, Pot and many more like... bhang, black, blast, blunts, bob hope, bush, dope, draw, hemp, herb, marijuana, pot, puff, northern lights, resin, sensi, sinsemilla, shit, skunk, smoke, soap, spliff, weed, zero.  Some names are also based on where it comes from... Afghan, home grown, Moroccan etc.  In the UK from the 29 January 2004, cannabis was reclassified from a class B to a Class C drug. Class C is reserved for substances with an accepted medical use, such as steroids, anti-depressants, and some tranquillisers, but it is still illegal and calls are now being made to change the rules to make it a class B drug again. In the United States, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug, along with LSD and heroin, carrying the severest federal penalties.

Do you think we should make this drug, as have the Americans, a Class A drug?  Many users compare their daily cannabis habit with dependency on caffeine, but it is wrong to say it is not habit-forming. One very well known bad effect of cannabis is that you can't develop tolerance to it! Side effects range from feeling a little groggy and forgetful to anxiety, vomiting, dizziness, panic, paranoia and feelings of impending doom. Long term medical problems and long lasting damage are still an unknown factor. We still do not know enough about the side effects in the long term on the psychiatric and physical state of the user. It has been suggested that it may result in mental illness and even reproductive problems.   The UK Department of Health summed it up neatly:- "Cannabis is a weakly addictive drug, but does induce dependence in a significant minority of regular users."