I hate to say we told you so, but we did.
You can be forgiven for thinking policy makers at Downing Street were all under the influence given the number of u-turns they are making lately. Last week came the acceptance that abolishing the 10p tax rate was an error and that people affected by this will now receive compensation. This week comes the news that number 10 is planning to reclassify cannabis from class C to B.
Back in 2004 under Tony Blair and the then Home Secretary David Blunkett, cannabis was downgraded to a class C drug. Four years on and the results of the relaxation has meant that those found in possession of cannabis were being let off by the police, with perhaps a verbal warning at most rather than being arrested.
Well, I hate to say we told you so but we did. ‘We’ are the community based drugs agencies like the one I manage, who warned against the downgrading.
Looking at it from a medical point of view, a study by the Lancet found that cannabis users were 40 per cent more likely than non-users to develop psychotic illnesses and that cannabis could account for around 800 cases of schizophrenia a year. Of course many more cases go unreported.
On the ground, drug dealers took this as a ‘tax break’ and have profited enormously flooding the estates with ‘Skunk’, a potent hybrid form of cannabis typically 3 times stronger than normal cannabis.
Gordon Brown wants to been seen as being tough on drugs and will, it seems, ignore recommendations from an expert advisory group (who argued it should stay as class C) and reclassify cannabis back to Class B. As experts at the sharp end of the drug trade who deal with the consequence of drugs abuse daily, we say “about time too.”
And now for the next u-turn Mr Brown: Iraq!
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