BBC Radio 1 publishes guide on where young people can legally smoke cannabis

The Newsbeat article went online after David Cameron angrily rejected a Lib Dem bid to decriminalise drugs

The BBC has been accused of encouraging children to take drugs after it published a guide on where to smoke cannabis.

The Radio 1 Newsbeat article went online after David Cameron angrily rejected a Lib Dem bid to decriminalise drugs.

The article names 13 countries where cannabis can be smoked without arrest.

A Newsbeat social media producer tweeted a link to anti-drug laws campaigner Russell Brand and it was re-tweeted by pro-cannabis feeds such as Hemp Products.

Radio 1 is the main source of BBC broadcast news for a third of those aged 15-24 but bosses want even younger listeners.

Lucy Dawe, of anti-drugs group Cannabis Skunk Sense, said: “I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that the BBC are doing this at a time when Professor Wayne Hall from the World Health Organisation has released a paper giving the absolute dangers of cannabis.

"For the BBC to direct people to where they can use cannabis I think is criminal. As a mother I’m horrified.

“The people responsible for this at the BBC need to come and work on a helpline like I have to hear the absolute desperation of parents ringing in whose children have been damaged by cannabis use both with addiction and mental health.”

Newsbeat editor Louisa Compton has hired a team of social media producers to spread provocative “eye-catching headlines” on Twitter and Facebook.

Compton said she has told the 30 staff to “rip up the rulebook” as they fight competition from online news sites such as Buzzfeed.

Downing Street this week rejected a Home Office report that said punishing substance abuse did not affect the number addicted.

The PM said he did not want to send a message that taking drugs was acceptable. But MPs backed a call to overhaul “failing” laws.

The BBC said: “The article offers a balanced view of the issue and we stand by it. It clearly covers the associated health risks of cannabis use and provides a link to a help site for drug users.

"Comparing the UK's approach to cannabis use with other countries was an entirely relevant way of covering the political debate about drugs policy."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bbc-radio-1-publishes-guide-4551975 01/11/2014