Cannabis is a factor in more than one in 10 drug-related hospital admissions in Tayside and Fife, new figures have revealed.
Opiates, which include the likes of heroin, are responsible for more than two-thirds of cases in Fife and almost three-quarters of admissions across Dundee, Angus and Perthshire.
Statistics from ISD Scotland show there were 608 admissions because of “cannabinoids” nationwide last year, a trend that has been increasing since 2008-9, when there were less than 500 admissions.
The drug now accounts for nearly double the admissions of cocaine across Scotland, with younger people most affected.
The Scottish Tories called on authorities not to ease off on cannabis amid attempts to tackle higher profile illegal substances like heroin.
The statistics from ISD Scotland revealed a total of 5,683 discharges last year, itself a significant drop from previous years.
The majority of those discharges relate to opioids such as heroin, but the trend for cannabis-related admissions is on an upward trajectory.
Fife had the third highest number, behind Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Lothian.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw MSP said: “Cannabis enjoys a reputation in some quarters as essentially being a safe drug but we can see from these figures that clearly isn’t the case.
“Allowing the illegal substance that reputation can breed complacency among not only users, but authorities too.
“It accounts for almost double the hospital admissions as cocaine, and the five-year trend is certainly moving in the wrong direction.
“We have to break this relaxed attitude, and ensure that the hundreds who are hospitalised as a result of cannabis don’t fall into a trap of believing what they are doing is a risk-free activity.”