The cannabis saga - should it be reclassified again?
by George Ruston, Guest Columnist
Posted: Monday, February 18, 2008, 14:56 (GMT)
Christian drug education charity, Hope UK, feels that cannabis should be returned to its 'B' classification under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Last week the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs listened to 21 submissions about cannabis. Their aim was to respond to a request from the Home Secretary about whether cannabis should be reclassified again.
Since it was downgraded to Class C, there has been widespread confusion about its status with many people thinking it had become 'legal'. At the same time, there has been a growing body of evidence relating to regular cannabis use and its effect on mental illness.
The Association of Chief Police Officers now recommend that it should be reclassified and supporters of this view point to the increasing availability of high strength cannabis like skunk which now accounts for 80 per cent of all street seizures by police.
Taking in the whole picture
Hope UK's submission to the AMCD argued that cannabis classification is only part of the whole picture and needs to be seen in a holistic context as does the classification of any substance.
The charity disagrees with the argument that reclassification to Class C has been a success because there has been an apparent fall in cannabis consumption. This simplistic view ignores the much higher profile that cannabis was given because of the way in which reclassification was handled.
In fact, one of the positive outcomes of the previous reclassification has turned out to be the controversy it generated. It may be that any drop in consumption has been a result of the adverse publicity that has been given to the use of cannabis with more people realising that it is a harmful substance.
Hope UK educators continually meet young people who equated the downgrading of the drug with a view that it was safe to use. Over time, this view does appear to have been partly eroded by the continuing publicity about the adverse effects of cannabis.
It is essential that a clear and consistent message about cannabis is given and its legal status plays a critical part in this. However, whatever the law says is only part of the story and there needs to be greater priority given to education and prevention, equipping those young people who do not use cannabis with the information with which they can influence their friends. The harm related to cannabis will only really start to reduce once people's hearts and minds are won over.
George Ruston is Director of Hope UK, a drug education charity that works principally in the voluntary and church sectors. They have 181 Voluntary Drug Educators, trained with an Open College Network-accredited course, whose aim is to enable children and young people to make drug-free choices.
Have your say on this article
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Thursday, February 21, 2008, 0:37 (GMT)
Thankfully the courts don't currently lock up otherwise entirely law abiding citizens for 2 years for choosing this form of intoxication - so what chance they'll lock them up for 5 ?
My main worry is that the police will no longer allow us to break this stupid law in our own homes.
Hopefully in the Internet age, youngsters will be even less likely to believe lies told to them by adults than we were.
Unfortunately if they extend the logic, they might think that maybe smack, crack and meth aren't that bad.
Any classification system that makes magic mushrooms Class A to "send a message", deserves contempt.
Compost Mentis, Beasley Street
Added: Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 19:44 (GMT)
An exremely well thought out and reasoned paper that is worthy of far more attention than it might get.
Peter O\'Loughlin, Beckenham BR3 3AT England
Added: Monday, February 18, 2008, 18:16 (GMT)
Classification made no difference to half the Government, nor to the higher number of users of the time. Only by legalising Cannabis, and with full legal regulation, can we as a society, discuss the positive and negative aspects of the plant, without the moral outdry influencing the facts.
Mark Palmer, Norwich
Added: Monday, February 18, 2008, 16:57 (GMT)
Does it matter what class cannabis is in, I doubt whether many people ask what class it is in before trying it.?
Cannabis is used as a sacrament as is the drug Alcohol, from as early as the Coptic Church.
Prohibition is the real crime, we should make the revenue on this product, not the criminals.
Winston Matthews, Horley Surrey
Added: Monday, February 18, 2008, 16:00 (GMT)
It really doesn't matter what class cannabis is in, I doubt whether many people ask what class it is in before trying it.
What matters is Justice.
Whilst the police and courts continue to prosecute victimless cannabis users for possession of a plant, control of cannabis remains firmly in the hands of profit-driven dealers.
So long as cannabis remains illegal the problems will remain: there is no age restriction, no quality control, no credible advice, no taxation on profits and the door is thrown wide open to hard drugs and crime.
And we - the taxpayers - pay for it.
Alun Buffry, Norwich
