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@ John Hemming
Lib Dem MP for Yardley

There are an estimated 3-6 million regular users of Cannabis in the UK. Over half of the population have probably used it at least once. Many people know at least one person who uses Cannabis recreationally... Show more »There are an estimated 3-6 million regular users of Cannabis in the UK. Over half of the population have probably used it at least once. Many people know at least one person who uses Cannabis recreationally with no ill effect to anyone other than themselves and the Netherlands is no longer the only country in the world where Cannabis is legally available to adults. With growing concerns over young people consuming stronger strains of Cannabis, and greater public acknowledgement of the failure that has been the war on Drug users, is there a chance that you or any other politician might initiate a serious debate about the regulation and taxation of Cannabis? Show less »

Submitted by: levent | 42 votes for this..

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Answered by John Hemming

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sameen at Jun 21 2009 12:00:00 AM :  The decision for prohibition effectively rests on the 'classification' of the drug. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommended to the Government to reclassify Cannabis as a Class C drug. This recommendation was made in the document 'Cannabis: Classification and Public Health' enclosed here (http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/publication-search/acmd/acmd-cannabis-report-2008?view=Binary). The recommendation was rejected by the Government (http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/publication-search/cannabis/acmd-cannabisreclassification?view=Binary). However, the Advisory Council was invited to review its classification in two years time. The recommendations were published in April 2008. Is it possible to bring forward this review in order to inform any future debate?
DrugEquality at Jun 22 2009 12:00:00 AM :  Sameen - It seems curious to suggest that the decision for prohibition rests on the classification of a drug.  The Government have the statutory duty to administer the classification of drugs according to the objects and principles of the primary legislation, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 ("the Act").  The ACMD and the Government are charged with ascertaining what drugs are likely to be misused, and if such misuse may cause harm to the public, then they must classify that drug accordingly. They have the power under the Act to make various uses for various categories of persons permissible, despite a drug being so classified. Scheduling a drug does not mean automatic prohibition.  In the case of alcohol, not only do the Government fail to bring into the classification system a drug which is proven to be more harmful than many drugs already included (strongly suggesting a bias inconsistent with the law itself), but also choose to refrain from implementing measures such as price rises on the basis that such would unfairly impact upon a majority of responsible users - this distinction between use and misuse is unreasonably denied to the users of controlled drugs, as all meaningful use is deemed misuse.  Given the harm caused to health and society by the impact of alcohol misuse, clearly the Act is not being administered in a rational and scientific basis, and the ACMD must also bear some responsibility for that.  With the classification of cannabis at B or C, and in the light of all the available evidence (including that most of the harms that cannabis and other controlled drugs may be 'responsible' for are significantly due to the paradox of consequences created by prohibtionism), then this status quo appears to be a case of majoritarian scapegoating.  Someone growing cannabis for personal and private responsible use liable to receive a prison term not exceeding 14 years, but drinkers and smokers enjoy liberty and consumer protection, BUT are left with the curious misinformation that their activities are much safer than those demonised by controlled drug users.  The Government does not have the authority to maintain the status quo under the common law principles of proper administration of the Act, and indeed their irrationality and bias forms a discriminatory basis for various claims under the Human Rights Act 1998.  The Government must quickly implement a scientific basis for drug control as opposed to the prejudice extant in the current policy of basing policy (as they admit that they do in CM 6941) on cultural and historic factors (which do not feature in the Act as appropriate parameters for controlling drugs or otherwise).

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