Burning Issue: Is the government right to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug?

Published on Monday 26 January 2009 21:06

Yes ALAN CAMPBELL Home Office minister

CANNABIS is a harmful drug and, while fewer people are taking it than before, it poses a real risk to the health of those who do use it. I am extremely concerned about the use of stronger cannabis – skunk – and the harm it can cause to mental health.

We are reclassifying cannabis to protect the public and future generations. That is why, together with reclassification, it is crucial that we are communicating with young people through the Frank drug awareness campaign to warn them about the consequences.

Putting cannabis in Class B reflects the fact that skunk now dominates in the UK. Skunk has swept many less potent forms of cannabis off the market, and it now accounts for more than 80 per cent of the cannabis available on our streets, compared with just 30 per cent in 2002.

This classification of cannabis means the government will robustly enforce laws on cannabis supply and possession, police and other agencies will work to shut down cannabis farms and arrest the organised criminals who run them, and there will be consideration of additional aggravating sentencing factors for those caught supplying cannabis near schools.

There is something different about cannabis, because the police are more familiar with it. It is more easily recognisable than, for example, amphetamines, which might be a powder that has to be taken away and diagnosed to see what it actually is.

You have to deal with each drug differently because they are all slightly different, even though they might be in the same classification.

No

CHRIS DAVIES

Liberal Democrat MEP

YOU couldn't make it up – cannabis use has gone down since the criminal penalties for its possession were reduced, so now, five years later, the government is increasing the penalties. The move to Class B has got nothing to do with public health and education, and everything to do with posturing on penalties.

In 2002-3, the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds who had taken cannabis in the past year was 26.2 per cent. The government followed the advice of its Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and reduced the classification of cannabis from Class B to Class C. By 2006-7, the proportion of 16 to 24-year-old cannabis users had fallen to 20.9 per cent.

The advisory council of experts said in its latest report that, although cannabis caused physical harm to individuals, it was unaware of significant new evidence since its last report.

Evidence about the effects on mental health have become more, rather than less, confused. On balance, the council considers that the evidence points to a probable, but weak, causal link between psychotic illness and cannabis use, but about 5,000 young men, or 20,000 young women, would need to be prevented from using cannabis to avoid one person developing schizophrenia. It recommended that cannabis should remain a Class C drug.

The government's use of criminal penalties takes no account of this advice and is cruel to those who use cannabis for medicinal purposes. It is pandering to the tabloids. Most cannabis users will do nothing that can cause harm to another human being, and are unlikely to do any harm to themselves. In a free society, there should be no laws to prevent them doing what they like.