Call for 'papers' cannabis warning
Updated on 09 February 2008
Cigarette rolling papers should carry printed warnings about the dangers of cannabis, according to a mental health charity.
The charity Rethink says there is growing evidence that the health risks associated with cannabis use requires a similar approach to that taken with tobacco.
Its comments, made in its report into cannabis use - Educating Reefer - are directed at companies such as Imperial Tobacco, which manufactures the UK's best-selling brand of cigarette papers, Rizla.
The report states that warnings to smokers on cigarette packets have had a dramatic effect and that rolling papers are the most obvious place for warnings targeting cannabis users.
It criticises Rizla for the sale of its king-sized papers, which the charity says "it is generally accepted" are more suitable for cannabis consumption than tobacco.
The report says: "Given this strong association, rolling paper manufacturers should take responsibility for warning users of the dangers of cannabis use.
"Rethink believes that following the impact of tobacco warnings on cigarette packets, rolling paper packets should carry warnings about the mental health effects of cannabis."
A spokesman for Imperial Tobacco said: "We manufacture and sell rolling papers for the use of adult tobacco smokers.
"We recognise that rolling papers can be used in association with cannabis but this is not their intended purpose and we do not endorse this."
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