Drugs and your children: What every parent must know

Being a young, independent woman living in London, you no doubt expect me to complain that Mr Blunkett didn't do enough this week when he reclassified cannabis from a class B to a class C drug, that he should have legalised it. Cannabis is not dangerous. Everyone has a smoke, right?

The fact is, after giving the issue careful thought, I have shocked even myself with what I have realised is the only way forward. Yes, the only solution is to strengthen laws on drugs, making them ever harder to come by and putting those responsible for spreading this muck in jail for longer.

Yes that is what I said. Most young people will argue that the laws on drugs haven't worked — and they haven't — so the only solution is to decriminalise them. They will also complain that the suggestion cannabis is a "gateway" drug to harder drugs is nonsense. But they are wrong. If the laws haven't worked it's because they're not strict enough. The idea of making them easy to come by is woolly thinking. Sorry, but it's true.

Of course I have seen lots of examples of drug use, even among my friends. I have also seen young lives and brilliant minds ruined by the addict's need for more narcotics. Perhaps it's inevitable that young adults will try to find some escape from a confusing and difficult world. But that doesn't mean we should make it acceptable. Taking drugs is anti-social — and I mean anti. It destroys society. And the vicious circle is that the more society falls apart, the more people feel the need to resort to drugs.

And this all comes from experience because I admit that I have tried cannabis. Once, at university. I remember becoming slightly confused but generally very chatty and relaxed. Only with hindsight now do I realise I was easy prey for any enterprising rapist or murderer. You see, that's the problem with drugs — they make you forget life's realities. So I strongly advise Mr Blunkett to reverse his policy and toughen up a bit, before our kids suffer from bad decisions made by our generation.

I see as well that the recent spate of accounting scandals in the US had brought down the world's stock markets. I have no sympathy for them I'm afraid as I clearly recall telling a friend at the London Stock Exchange nearly a year ago that some of these hi-tech companies were overvalued. But still he and the rest of the market continued blithely on and now look what's happened. You see, it pays to read my column. I might even tip some shares next month, just for fun.

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