The scale and sophistication of the first underground drug factory uncovered by police in Northern Ireland has been laid bare at the trial of a drug dealer and cannabis farmer.

Mark Cavanagh (40), of India Street in south Belfast's Holylands, was given a prison sentence of five years and seven months after he pleaded guilty to a litany of drugs charges including:

• Conspiracy to produce cannabis.
• Conspiracy to possess the drug with intent to supply.
• Possession of the drug with intent to supply.
• Fraudulent evasion on imported goods.
• Converting or concealing criminal property.

The offences were committed between July 1, 2012 and May 22, 2013 and followed 12 months of surveillance by the PSNI in Co Down.

Smoking tobacco, already known to cause cancer and stroke, may be also be a contributor to mental illness, a new study suggests.

Researchers at King's College London have found that people who suffer from psychosis are about three times more likely to be smokers.

Although the association between smoking cigarettes and psychosis - particularly schizophrenia - has been acknowledged before, little attention has been directed towards the possibility that cigarettes themselves may increase the risk of psychosis.

The researchers analysed data from 61 observational studies involving almost 15,000 tobacco users and 273,000 non-users.

The study also showed that daily smokers became psychotic around a year earlier than non-smokers.

These findings reveal how the cognitive effects of THC are triggered by a pathway which is separate from some of its other effects.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia in collaboration with the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona have found a way to separate the medical benefits of cannabis from its unwanted side effects.

Marijuana has some incredible pain relief properties. It can also make people incredibly paranoid. A team of biochemists believes it has found a way to separate these two properties and pave the way for a very legal, very helpful new line of medication. And it all began with skunk.

The current issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) includes two articles that review studies of marijuana's medical utility and come to similar conclusions about the applications that are best supported by the existing evidence: treatment of chronic pain, neuropathic pain and spasticity.

There is also substantial evidence that THC, marijuana's main active ingredient, is effective at relieving nausea and restoring appetite.

An ex-soldier who set up a cannabis factory at his Birmingham home to help him cope with his horrific war experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq has escaped a jail sentence.

Police had initially gone to the 28 year-old’s address in Ewell Road, Erdington, following a report of a burglary, discovered 32 plants, at various stages of maturity, being grown in an upstairs room.

Paul Prentice had also illegally by-passed the electricity supply.

David Nutt, a former government adviser on drugs, has written an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron calling on the Government to reconsider planned legislation that will ban all 'legal highs'.

The proposed Psychoactive Substances Bill has already been criticised by the advisory council on the misuse of drugs (ACMD), a body Professor Nutt chaired until 2009, which fears the blanket ban is unworkable.

Professor Nutt has often been outspoken over government policy on drugs.

He is among more than 40 academics, campaigners and professionals to have signed the letter, reproduced below:

Dear Prime Minister,

This is Sam. He’s my son. His epilepsy caused him to have up to 100 seizures a day. After seven years we were out of options. Our last hope: an untested, unproven treatment. The only problem? It was illegal.

The hospital pharmacist slid three bottles of pills across the counter, gave my wife a form to sign, and reminded her that this was not the corner drugstore. The pharmacy knew how many pills had been dispensed, he said; it would know how many had been consumed; and it would expect her to return the unused pills before she left the country. The pharmacist made it clear that he was not only in touch with our doctor but with the company supplying the medication. They would know if she broke the rules.

Editor's note: A paragraph has been removed that included false information on the use of public funds to fight drug abuse. The correct story on that topic can be found at the link under this column.

Marijuana causes kids to kill themselves! It makes IQs drop!! If children accidentally eat edibles, they will be poisoned!!!

OK, now that I have your attention, I just want to say that none of the above is proven to be true. But Sheila Polk, Yavapai County attorney, and her anti-drug MATForce group has spread such propaganda in statewide programs and billboards. 

“I’s my rights innit?  I can grow me own medicine carn’I?  I’m too sick to work. I can save the NHS millions. Le’s have anuvver spliff.”

Face it, this is exactly how too many people in Britain see medicinal cannabis users. It’s not true. It’s not fair. It’s unjust. Almost everything about it is wrong. The one thing that’s right – is that it’s a stereotype some people keep on reinforcing.