Cannabis has become a big part of my life... I am 17 and I don’t use it.

My parents have smoked it for over 10 years. In my opinion, it has been the cause of debt, arguments and depression.

When I was at school, it was so easy to get weed. Children were even smoking it on school grounds. Teachers would go round but the kids would just simply put it out.

I also hang about with people who smoke it and they always try and encourage me to try it. You have to destroy your body to impress people!

It is that terrible that I have seen a very close friend be beaten to a pulp for £10.

My mum will say to me when I bring the subject up, ‘We all get treats and your dad’s treat is the smoke.

‘He brings in the money so how can I say no to him?’.

She smokes it too so I guess it is a good excuse for her.

But we are in some much debt, surely keeping a roof over our five heads is more important than getting high?

Also, my best friend smokes it, and when we speak about it, she just says, ‘But it makes me happy’. She speaks about it like it is a joke when she knows it isn’t. We go into deep conversations about it so she knows what it can do to a young person’s body.

Male, 41, said: “I think it has some brilliant qualities but I stopped it because of the effects it had on me. I was stupid enough to ride my motorbike stoned.”

He also said: “I’m happier now that I am off cannabis and I wish I’d never smoked it.”

It gets me very frustrated because I know what it does to a young person’s brain.

I know the long-term side effects: cannabis smoke contains some of the same cancer-causing compounds as tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations.

Studies show that someone who smokes five joints a week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.

I reckons these people can’t think much of their lives if they smoke it away. I don’t see what’s so good about getting high off a chemical imp high on life!

I think schools need to have more security over this because that is where most people are introduced to it. I know that some people reading this will think it is silly but if you take 10 steps back and think about it you will realise what a waste of time and money it is.

Swindon Advertiser: Blob By Anonymous, 17