From John Eoin Douglas, Edinburgh:

For years I have believed the statements of successive UK governments that cannabis is a dangerous and addictive drug that leads inexorably to the destruction of the health and morals of those using it and of society as we know it.

The recent decision by the Home Secretary to hand it out to children can only allow of two conclusions:

Either the substance is safe and we have been lied to — or it is not.

In which case, even if it has medicinal properties, it should continue to be banned in the wider interests of society, notwithstanding that a few sick and pain-ridden children are collateral damage in the war against drugs.