Legalising cannabis risks making children believe it is safe, the head of the NHS warned yesterday.

In a major intervention, Simon Stevens highlighted serious health dangers, such as addiction and psychosis. He spoke out after former Tory leader Lord Hague urged ministers to be ‘bold’ and legalise cannabis for recreational use – meaning it could be sold in shops with alcohol and tobacco.

The peer claimed the war on the class B drug had been ‘comprehensively and irreversibly lost’. But campaigners said it would be wrong to decriminalise a narcotic linked to mental illness, organised crime, violence and road deaths.

Addressing a health conference in London, Mr Stevens said: ‘We have got to make sure we don’t inadvertently introduce new risks for people. In countries where marijuana has been decriminalised, often young people, teenagers, come to think of smoking marijuana as safe. Whereas let’s be clear, actually it isn’t.

Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, warned of the cannabis addiction risk for children who may think of smoking marijuana is safe if it is decriminalised

‘For around 10 per cent it will become addictive, it increases the risk of long-term psychiatric problems such as depression or psychosis.’

Mr Stevens said it was important not to confuse the issue of the medical use of cannabis with debate around the decriminalisation, or legalisation, of marijuana.

The Government has announced a review of the rules on medicinal cannabis.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid acted following a public outcry over Billy Caldwell, 12, and Alfie Dingley, six, both of whose parents had been banned from using cannabis oil to treat their violent and life-threatening epileptic seizures.

In other developments:

Downing Street slapped down Lord Hague, saying it had ‘no plans’ to relax the laws on recreational use of cannabis;

Mr Javid said 10,000 children with drug-resistant epilepsy could benefit from using cannabis-based medicines;

Alfie’s mother Hannah Deacon wept with joy and relief when she was told the Home Office was giving her a licence to treat him with cannabis oil;

Critics warned cannabis use was already being decriminalised ‘by the back door’ with levels of seizures and prosecutions plummeting;

Barack Obama’s former drug policy adviser said selling cannabis on the open market risked a public health disaster.

Lord Hague, who took a hardline stance on cannabis as Tory leader, said the Prime Minister should introduce a ‘major change in policy’ by imitating Canada, which is on the verge of legalising the drug for recreational use. In an article for the Daily Telegraph, he wrote: ‘The idea that this can be driven off the streets and out of people’s lives by the state is nothing short of deluded.

We’re already going soft as cases plummet Fears that cannabis is being decriminalised by stealth intensified last night as it emerged the number of seizures and prosecutions had plummeted. Cannabis was reclassified in 2009 from a Class C to a Class B drug, which meant higher jail sentences for possession. But in the decade since, the police and courts have dealt with fewer cases. The number of cannabis seizures by police fell from 182,930 in 2008-09 to 96,604 in the year to March 2017. Over the same period the number of crimes of cannabis possession halved from 167,950 to 83,591. Prosecutions for possessing cannabis have also plummeted. Figures from the Ministry of Justice show the number of young people convicted after being caught with marijuana fell 45 per cent from a peak of 27,847 in 2011 to 15,119 last year. Figures also showed that in 2009 police let off 95,000 with a warning. By 2016, this had fallen to just over 34,000. A further 6,601 received fines in 2016, compared with 11,491 seven years earlier. Despite increasing warnings over health problems linked to the drug, police chiefs in at least four forces – Derbyshire, Dorset, Surrey and Durham – have signalled that cannabis users and growers are no longer a priority. Advertisement

‘Everyone sitting in a Whitehall conference room needs to recognise that, out there, cannabis is ubiquitous, and issuing orders to the police to defeat its use is about as up to date and relevant as asking the Army to recover the Empire. This battle is effectively over.’

He said that only criminal gangs benefitted from the drug being illegal and that many police forces had ‘stopped worrying about it’.

Number 10 issued a stinging rebuke, insisting the Government had no plans to legalise or decriminalise cannabis for recreational use. A spokesman said: ‘The evidence is very clear – cannabis can cause serious harm when misused.’

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Javid announced a review of the medicinal use of cannabis, which could lead to patients in the UK being prescribed drugs made from the banned plant. He authorised a licence to be issued for Alfie after his mother said she had been waiting three months for Theresa May to fulfil a personal promise that he would be allowed to receive cannabis oil.

He said the legal situation on medicinal cannabis was ‘not satisfactory for the parents, not satisfactory for the doctors, and not satisfactory for me’.

The announcement of the review came just days after Mr Javid intervened to permit the use of cannabis oil to treat severely epileptic Billy, who had been admitted to hospital with seizures after supplies his mother had brought from Canada were confiscated at Heathrow.

But Mr Javid insisted: ‘This step is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use. This Government has absolutely no plans to legalise cannabis and the penalties for unauthorised supply and possession will remain unchanged.

‘We will not set a dangerous precedent or weaken our ability to keep dangerous drugs off our streets.’

Both the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Kings College London have said that cannabis use is ‘highly addictive’ and can lead to serious problems for physical and mental wellbeing. Evidence from the Government’s independent advisory council on the misuse of drugs also said the use of cannabis is a ‘significant public health issue and can unquestionably cause harm to individuals and society’.

Lord Hague, who took a hardline stance on cannabis as Tory leader, said the Prime Minister should introduce a ‘major change in policy’ by imitating Canada, which is on the verge of legalising the drug for recreational use

Many other countries, including much of the US, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, have legalised the use of medicinal cannabis, but very few have legalised recreational use.

Mrs May and Mr Javid remain opposed to legalisation or decriminalisation of the drug because of the harm they say it does to individual users and communities.

Words that show how Hague changed tune 'William is firmly opposed to all forms of illegal drug taking. We are opposed to the legalisation of cannabis.’ - Mr Hague’s spokesman on calls to legalise cannabis in 1999 ‘I think we should not take our eye away from cannabis and other soft drugs. It is very clear from talking to police that they often lead on to the hard drugs.’ - Mr Hague in 2000, rejecting calls for police to go softer on cannabis ‘It is time for a stronger, firmer, harder attack on drugs than we have ever seen before. That is the common sense solution which Britain wants and will get under the next Conservative government.’ - Unveiling a crackdown on cannabis use outside schools in February 2000 ‘The police have got to fight harder against drugs, not surrender. - In October 2000 after calls for a £100 fine for cannabis possession Advertisement

Dr Kevin Sabet, a White House drug adviser under Mr Obama, said Lord Hague should ‘brush up on the science’ on cannabis. He said: ‘Today’s cannabis is so much more awful than it used to be. In fact, in the UK, when it was downgraded to class C [in 2004] we saw an increase in things like psychosis and other negative issues.

‘That’s why it was then upgraded. It hasn’t gotten safer in the last ten years, it’s gotten more dangerous as the levels are much higher. Frankly, the weakest in society would be hurt, not Lord Hague and his friends.’

Campaigners against legalisation argue that it would normalise the use of drugs among children and lead to greater addiction and health problems. But former Lib Dem health minister Norman Lamb called on the Government to legalise cannabis completely.

He said: ‘Isn’t there a dreadful hypocrisy in Government policy in drugs more generally? Probably most of the Cabinet drink alcohol, the most dangerous drug of all, probably half of the Cabinet has used cannabis.

‘Shouldn’t the Home Secretary follow the advice of Lord Hague, who makes the case for a regulated legalised market and that that is the best way to protect people from harm who buy from criminals who have no interest in their welfare at all?’

Psychiatrists have warned that smokers of ‘high-potency’ cannabis have a high risk of spiralling into mental illness, with young people especially vulnerable.

Tory MP Simon Hoare, who represents North Dorset, said he was staggered by Lord Hague’s comments. He added: ‘We have seen at first hand the devastation that cannabis causes. It is not recreational use, it steals lives and futures and we must be robust in ensuring that it stops.’

This drug stole my son's mind... then took his life

Janie Hamilton lost her son James after he developed severe mental illness brought on by cannabis.

He died of testicular cancer in 2015 after his drug-induced psychosis led him to refuse chemotherapy.

His death was recorded as being partly caused by schizophrenia, which his family believe was triggered by his cannabis addiction.

Janie Hamilton lost her son James (pictured at the hospice with his father) after he developed severe mental illness brought on by cannabis

James, who had trouble fitting in at boarding school where his father taught, is thought to have started using cannabis at the age of 14. His personality changed dramatically after he became hooked on the drug. He was sectioned aged 20.

His mother, a 65-year-old retired teacher from North Dorset, now tours schools warning young people of the risks of experimenting with a mind-altering substance.

Yesterday she said she felt ‘very cross’ when she heard about Lord Hague’s comments. ‘I am concerned that the dangers of cannabis are being forgotten in all this,’ she said.

‘From a personal point of view, I can only speak of the impact of cannabis on my son’s life and the devastation it caused to him and to our whole family.

‘If people had witnessed what I have in mental health wards for 16 years, of teenagers and the young and old shuffling about, their lives derailed, they would not be so casual about the potential impact of cannabis on individuals.’

He died of testicular cancer in 2015 after his drug-induced psychosis led him to refuse chemotherapy. His mother (pictured together aged 11) now tours schools warning young people of the risks of experimenting with a mind-altering substance

No 10 slaps down Hague on Cannabis ...but Javid paves the way for legalising oil as medicine

Sajid Javid paved the way for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis yesterday as he granted a licence for it to be used to treat another severely ill epileptic boy.

It comes after days of controversy over the confiscation of cannabis oil supplies from mother Charlotte Caldwell who brought it into the country from Canada for her 12-year-old epileptic son Billy.

In his statement yesterday Mr Javid said he was also going to give permission for a second boy – six-year-old Alfie Dingley – to use cannabis oil. His mother, Hannah Deacon, wept with joy and relief as she was told the news.

Alfie suffers from a rare form of epilepsy which means he can suffer as many as 300 violent seizures a month. In April, his family applied to the Home Office for a licence to use the cannabis-based medication, claiming his condition improved after he was treated with it in the Netherlands.

While his mother appeared on ITV News to talk about her son’s case, presenter Nina Hossain revealed that Mr Javid had granted a licence.

In his statement yesterday Mr Javid said he was also going to give permission for a second boy – six-year-old Alfie Dingley – to use cannabis oil. His mother, Hannah Deacon, wept with joy and relief as she was told the news

In tears, Miss Deacon said: ‘That’s amazing news. Thank you very much for letting me know. Thank you. Thank you to the Prime Minister.’

It came minutes after Mr Javid revealed the Government was reviewing ‘unsatisfactory’ rules to allow cannabis to be used for medical treatments. He said the move could benefit 10,000 children who have a drug-resistant form of epilepsy.

He said the review would be held in two parts. The first, led by England’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies, will make recommendations on which cannabis-based medicines might offer real benefits to patients. In the second part, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will consider whether changes should be made to the classification of these products after assessing ‘the balance of harms and public health needs’.

Mr Javid said he had the ‘utmost sympathy’ for the families of children like Billy and Alfie, who have travelled abroad to obtain cannabis-based treatments banned in the UK.

‘As a father, I know there is nothing worse than seeing your child suffer,’ he said. ‘You would do anything to take away their pain.

‘That is why I have the utmost sympathy for Billy Caldwell, Alfie Dingley and many others like them and for their parents, who have been under unimaginable stress and strain.’

Billy Caldwell, an epileptic child who needs cannabis oil to treat his life-threatening seizures, was handed an emergency licence for it over the weekend – the first time the Home Secretary has used powers to sidestep laws on medicinal cannabis.