FACTBOX-Advisory Council report on cannabis

LONDON - The independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that cannabis should remain a class C substance, the lowest classification.

Here are key points from its report, published by the Home Office:

"Cannabis can unquestionably cause harm to individuals and society and the ACMD is very concerned about its widespread use, particularly among young people," said ACMD Chairman Michael Rawlins in a statement accompanying the report.

"After careful scrutiny of the available evidence, the ACMD considers -- based on its harmfulness to individuals and society -- that cannabis should remain a class C substance.

"However, the ACMD wishes to emphasise that cannabis is still a significant public health issue."

It said the evidence for cannabis's effects on mental health had become more, rather than less, confused since its previous review two years ago.

It said there was a consistent, though weak, association between cannabis use and the development of psychotic illness.

But it said it was likely that cannabis, in the population as a whole, plays only a modest role in the development of such conditions.

"It is evident that the majority of young cannabis users do not develop psychotic illnesses," the report said.