Latest news with #druglaws
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Sadiq Khan is right: Britain must decriminalise cannabis – or remain in the dark ages
Yet another attempt to inject sanity into Britain's archaic drug laws has failed. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, last month accepted Lord Falconer's modest proposal to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of cannabis. He was stamped on yet again by that citadel of reaction, the Home Office, and its boss, Yvette Cooper. Falconer's distinguished group of lawyers, doctors and academics did not suggest legalisation. They simply argued that treating people using cannabis as criminals served no purpose. It confused soft drugs with hard, was racially biased in its enforcement, diverted police time from more pressing matters and denied help to those who needed it. An old game of media interviews is to ask politicians if they have ever taken drugs. Prime ministers from David Cameron and Boris Johnson to Keir Starmer, as well as the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, have either admitted to taking them or refused to deny it. Politicians feel that what the middle classes do at university is harmless fun. If it happens on a council estate, however, it is a route to prison. The reality is that the divide in Britain is not between those 'in favour' of cannabis and those against. It is between those who care about the impact of criminalisation and those who don't, a subset of whom merely want to sound macho. Decriminalisation in one form or another has been proposed for a quarter of a century. In 2000 the Police Foundation committee on drugs, of which I was a member, advised downgrading cannabis from a class B to a class C drug and in effect decriminalising it – but politicians never followed through. This was despite a poll by the Mirror in 1997 showing that almost two-thirds of the public were then in favour of decriminalisation. In 2004 cannabis was reduced to class C but not decriminalised. Then, in 2009, Gordon Brown played tough and returned it to class B. The then home secretary sacked the government's drug supremo, Prof David Nutt, for even breathing the word reform. By 2010 there were 43,000 convictions a year for drug possession, more than half of them for cannabis. An internal government report recommended decriminalisation in 2016 but was suppressed. The government even denied a freedom of information request, as if national security were at stake. The more studies and inquiries recommended reform, the more Whitehall dug in. Courts and jails became increasingly clogged and have remained so ever since. The hottest market for cannabis in Britain is now his majesty's jails. The UK is adrift in the western world in still wasting billions on its 'war on drugs'. Half of US states have legalised and licensed cannabis, including cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In California there are cannabis cafes, cannabis farming estates and even cannabis sommeliers. Of course there have been problems, not least with hard drugs in libertarian Oregon. New York's licensing system has not worked, with illegal outlets outnumbering legal ones. But no one wants to go back. As it is, more Americans today smoke cannabis than tobacco, including an astonishing five times more among those aged 18 to 34. There has been no noticeable collapse in American people's health. Even Donald Trump favours legalising cannabis for personal use in his home state of Florida. Other countries, such as Canada and Uruguay, have legalised cannabis. Many more have decriminalised possession, including Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and, as of last year, Germany, where individuals can grow and use small quantities. Plenty of British police forces have also gone down the Falconer route to some degree. There has been de facto decriminalisation in Durham and a number of other forces, as well as a successful but not repeated Metropolitan police trial in Lambeth, south London, in 2001. Other countries have researched, experimented and innovated. They have found ways to handle cannabis without disaster. Many places, such as Colorado, have taxed it and seen a boost in local revenue. Strong cannabis, or skunk, is bad for you but large numbers of Americans are clearly finding cannabis preferable to tobacco. It is not going away, any more than alcohol or cheeseburgers. British home secretaries behave like the politics addicts they are. They close their eyes and ears and scream. The real issue in Britain is not drugs. It is the systematic ruining by the state at vast expense of tens of thousands of young lives each year. The damage is done not by cannabis, but by criminalisation, which draws young people into gangs that deal it and from there towards hard drugs and imprisonment. The result is that society suffers a monster misdirection of police resources. Violent crime in London has increased almost every year for the past decade. There has been a rise in sexual assault, car and phone thefts and petty fraud. Shoplifting in London rose by an extraordinary 54% last year. Imagine how much time the police would have were they not spending so much of it stopping, searching, and testing people for drugs. Volunteers struggling to combat drug use – defying the government by testing drugs at music festivals, combating Glasgow's drug problem and keeping children out of county lines – have known one thing for the past quarter century. Whatever needs to be done about drugs, the criminal law as enforced in Britain is a useless answer. Police forces and charities have tried to advance decriminalisation against rigid opposition from Whitehall. As for elected mayors and local discretion, forget it. Westminster's contempt for local democracy is unrivalled. The truth is that what is lacking is not more reports or more brains, it is more guts. On drugs, Britain is still in the dark ages. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
British tourist, 21, faces drug charges after Thailand holiday
A 21-year-old woman is being held by police in Germany after allegedly travelling with cannabis from in Germany say Cameron Bradford, from Knebworth in Hertfordshire, was stopped and arrested at Munich Airport on 22 told BBC Newsbeat she's still in custody there although it's unclear what the next stage of the process will be. When Newsbeat asked the Foreign Office about Cameron's case, a spokesperson confirmed they're helping a British woman and her family too. The UK government says Thailand has strict laws against drug use, possession and trafficking and having even small quantities can lead to heavy fines and jail "low strength" weed has been legal there since 2022, Foreign Office advice says there have been cases of British nationals being arrested as they leave the country. In July last year, the government announced a partnership with Thai Customs to cut down a "surge" of illegal cannabis shipments to the UK since Thailand decriminalised the then, more than 50 British nationals have been arrested in Thailand for attempted cannabis smuggling. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
The Independent
a day ago
- General
- The Independent
No changes to drug laws even if consumption room is a success, says minister
The UK Government will not change drug laws to allow more safe consumption rooms, even if a Glasgow-based pilot is a success, a minister has said. The Thistle Centre opened earlier this year after a decade-long wrangle between the UK and Scottish governments, with the latter seeking an exemption from the Misuse of Drugs Act to ensure users of the facility are not prosecuted. Eventually, Scotland's top law officer ruled it would not be 'in the public interest' to seek to prosecute users of the service, which allows people to inject drugs, paving the way for it to open. Appearing before the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster on Wednesday, Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson said the law will not be changed. Asked if the Government could rethink that stance if the Thistle proves to be a success in driving down Scotland's high drug death rates, the minister said: 'We look at evidence, we have experts, we have the ACMD (advisory council on the misuse of drugs) who offer advice, we look at evidence all the time. 'But I just really want to be clear with you, we do not support drug consumption facilities, it's not our policy and we will not be amending the Misuse of Drugs Act.' Liberal Democrat MP Angus MacDonald said his 'jaw just dropped open' at the minister's statement. 'If the Thistle turns out to be a great success within a year, I would be so excited about rolling that out everywhere,' he said. He added that it is 'the most wonderful way' of stopping people dying and can act as a pathway to rehabilitation. After the minister repeated the Government's stance, Mr MacDonald said: 'You're basically condemning thousands of people to death, in my opinion.' But Dame Diana rejected his assertion, saying: 'I don't accept that, with the greatest of respect. 'This is not the only thing that we can do to deal with drug misuse and I think the UK Government is very clear that there are a number of measures that can be used.' Labour MP Chris Murray also pointed out that it was Dame Diana who chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee which in 2023 released a report supporting a drug consumption room pilot. Picking up on that point, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn questioned what evidence she had to have changed her view. 'Mr Flynn, you're a very experienced member of this House and you know that when a Member of Parliament becomes a minister, their personal views are irrelevant because they are there to represent the views of the Government,' she said. 'The recommendation that was made in that Home Affairs Select Committee report in the previous parliament was based on a group of politicians, cross-party, including your own party, that sat down and reached those recommendations together. 'That is very different to a Government policy that I am setting out today.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Labour refuses to back controlled drug use rooms despite ongoing pilot
The UK Government has confirmed that it will not alter drug laws to permit new legal consumption rooms, regardless of the success of a pilot program in Glasgow. The Thistle Centre, which opened earlier this year, was the result of a decade-long disagreement between the UK and Scottish governments. The Scottish government sought an exemption from the Misuse of Drugs Act to protect the facility's users from prosecution. Scotland's top law officer eventually determined that prosecuting users of the service, which provides a safe environment for drug injection, would not be "in the public interest," clearing the way for its opening. Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson has said that the law will not be changed to permit facilities like it as she appeared before the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster on Wednesday. Asked if the Government could rethink that stance if the Thistle proves to be a success in driving down Scotland's high drug death rates, the minister said: 'We look at evidence, we have experts, we have the ACMD (advisory council on the misuse of drugs) who offer advice, we look at evidence all the time. 'But I just really want to be clear with you, we do not support drug consumption facilities, it's not our policy and we will not be amending the Misuse of Drugs Act.' Liberal Democrat MP Angus MacDonald said his 'jaw just dropped open' at the minister's statement. 'If the Thistle turns out to be a great success within a year, I would be so excited about rolling that out everywhere,' he said. He added that it is 'the most wonderful way' of stopping people dying and can act as a pathway to rehabilitation. After the minister repeated the Government's stance, Mr MacDonald said: 'You're basically condemning thousands of people to death, in my opinion.' But Dame Diana rejected his assertion, saying: 'I don't accept that, with the greatest of respect. 'This is not the only thing that we can do to deal with drug misuse and I think the UK Government is very clear that there are a number of measures that can be used.' Labour MP Chris Murray also pointed out that it was Dame Diana who chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee which in 2023 released a report supporting a drug consumption room pilot. Picking up on that point, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn questioned what evidence she had to have changed her view. 'Mr Flynn, you're a very experienced member of this House and you know that when a Member of Parliament becomes a minister, their personal views are irrelevant because they are there to represent the views of the Government,' she said. 'The recommendation that was made in that Home Affairs Select Committee report in the previous parliament was based on a group of politicians, cross-party, including your own party, that sat down and reached those recommendations together. 'That is very different to a Government policy that I am setting out today.'
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Poll of the week: Should cannabis possession be legal?
Sir Sadiq Khan has called for cannabis possession to be decriminalised. The Mayor of London backed calls for decriminalisation this week because of concerns that drug laws were having a negative impact on relationships between the police and ethnic communities. We asked Telegraph readers: Should cannabis possession be legal? A staggering 71 per cent of over 79,000 respondents voted it should remain illegal. Your reasons ranged from health concerns to its adverse effect on the community and anti-social behaviour. Sir Sadiq, who oversees the Metropolitan Police, Britain's biggest force, came out in favour of decriminalisation following an independent commission led by Lord Falconer, the former Labour justice secretary, which found current cannabis laws were 'disproportionate to the harms it can pose'. One reader, a retired police officer, has seen the impact of cannabis abuse first hand. Mark Kelly said: 'It should never be legalised. The paranoia and schizophrenic episodes caused by it are devastating to families.' Malcolm Fannon, a fellow retired officer, said: 'If I had a pound for every minute I spent rolling around on the ground with people supposedly mellow on cannabis, I'd be a very rich man. 'There is no such thing as a soft drug – the laws around all illegal substances should be strengthened, not diluted.' Many of you agreed, highlighting the adverse health impacts. Sue Procter noted: 'It is highly addictive and can cause depression, anxiety and in some cases extreme psychosis. These effects are permanent, and our liberal attitude to this drug is why our younger generation are all out of work because of their mental health.' A number of readers also pointed out that cannabis can be seen as a gateway drug leading to other substances. Janet McHugh said: 'Drug addiction often starts with this drug in young people who think it's safe.' Robert le Gaillard added: 'Having worked with drug addicts for 20 years, I can confirm that Khan is a fool. Cannabis is the gateway drug to hard drugs.' Others drew attention to the smell associated with the drug. Edward Thomas said: 'I'm sick of the smell of cannabis wafting from benches occupied by derelicts in my local park when I grab a moment in a very busy week to walk the dogs with the kids in the evening.' Some readers, who have tried cannabis themselves, agree that it should remain illegal. Sean Seekins shared an experience of having a 'space cake' in Amsterdam. Seekins said: 'Any substance that affects the brain in such a way will do damage in the long run.' One of our readers recently visited Portland, Oregon, where drug possession had been decriminalised. Peter Cumpson said: 'On the airport train, a couple got on and started snorting cocaine. Everywhere in the centre of town, you'd see dishevelled broken people looking a bit dangerous. I vowed never to go back.' Amid the uproar surrounding Sir Sadiq's proposal to decriminalise the drug, several Telegraph readers voiced support for his position. Some highlighted the potential for regulated sales to deliver a significant economic boost, while others emphasised the drug's medicinal benefits. Reader Donald Morris said: 'There is a simple solution here. Cannabis production should be regulated, and only consumption of regulated cannabis allowed.' In agreement, Cassandra Blackley commented: 'We should legalise natural cannabis. A well-regulated and well-taxed market for pre-rolled spliffs would mean that users could lawfully enjoy the recreational and relaxation benefits of cannabis in the privacy of their own homes. 'This would raise millions of pounds for the Exchequer, reducing the millions spent on pointless enforcement and gutting the black market for criminal gangs.' While Adrian Rainer said: 'I personally don't think anything natural should be illegal in the first place. But I do disagree with Sadiq Khan turning this into a race thing.' Reader John Crawley lives in Canada, where recreational cannabis use has been legal since 2018. He said there have been 'no problems with anti-social behaviour'. He continued: 'We can buy it in all forms and use it to help with sleeping, instead of using prescribed sleeping tablets. Cannabis has so many therapeutic benefits, including controlling epilepsy, insomnia and other medical issues.' Angela Smith, a UK citizen, has lived in California for the last 16 years. She said: 'There is overwhelming evidence demonstrating the incredible medicinal benefits of cannabis. Forcing people underground who benefit from it for various medical conditions serves no one but drug dealers. 'I believe it saved the life of my son, who had cancer at the age of 11 and was able to be given cannabis oil with the blessing of his oncologist. 'It dismays me that attitudes in my home country are so far behind the US when it comes to cannabis. We need to stop framing this as a dangerous recreational drug and start integrating it into medical treatment modalities. It's shameful that the UK is so slow to respond to science. 'Please wake up people — we have a very valuable medicine here that is being overlooked.'
