It’s not the smoking of cannabis per se that makes a person progress to hard(er) drugs, It’s the fact that it is used by dealers as a lever to draw people - often, perhaps usually, young and impressionable people - into a progression to hard(er) drugs.

As the parent of a son with a 20-year-long heroin addiction, I am only too well aware of how these people operate, how they are able to apply pressure by various means, and I’m in agreement with Dick, I strongly believe in the de-criminalisation of all drugs, which would serve to loosen the hold pushers have over their victims.