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The Times of London reported Thursday Les Iversen, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, detailed his stance about marijuana in a 2003 lecture while a pharmacology professor at the University of Oxford.

"There have been no deaths to date caused by use of cannabis. Cannabis should be legalized, not just decriminalized, because it is comparatively less dangerous than legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco", Iversen said at the time.

After being appointed to the council post Wednesday, Iversen said his views on the subject have changed in recent years, saying there is some evidence that "potent forms of cannabis" can be detrimental to users.

"We have now to confront the more potent forms of cannabis. We have the new evidence that arose since 2003 linking cannabis to psychiatric illness. I think it's quite free for a scientist to change his mind when faced with new facts", Iversen said.

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