To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the letter of 18 March 2008 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office with responsibility for crime reduction to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West, what changes have been made to his Department’s Frank website with regard to the Under-Secretary’s request for a review of its advice on the link between cannabis and mental health. (226828)

My hon. Friend, the Member for Gedling, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office (Mr. Coaker), in his letter of 18 March 2008 to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) pledged that new or additional advice on the links between cannabis and the onset of mental health problems presented by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) report—Cannabis: Classification and Public Health (2008)—would be fully and accurately reflected in the information and advice provided through Frank and elsewhere from Government. The ACMD report was published in April 2008.

The Government responded to the ACMD report on 13 October 2008 stating that the Frank campaign, which has been extremely effective in highlighting to young people the harms associated with cannabis, will be updating the information it provides following the ACMD’s report. An enhanced campaign of activity reflecting these new messages will be undertaken in the near future.