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UK: Clarke's Cannabis Rethink for Votes Say Tories

John Deane and Nick Allen, PA

The Scotsman

Saturday 19 Mar 2005

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The Tories today accused the Government of commissioning a fresh review of
the dangers posed by cannabis in order to avoid a voter backlash at the
General Election.

Shadow home secretary David Davis suggested that the timing of Home
Secretary Charles Clarke's announcement was prompted by a concern not to be
seen as soft on drugs.

Mr Davis welcomed Mr Clarke's move, but argued that the reclassification of
cannabis was just one of a series of mistakes which had produced a
fundamentally flawed drugs policy.

Drugs minister Caroline Flint countered, saying that the Government was
reacting to emerging evidence about the health implications of cannabis.

She stressed that the Government would not pre-empt the outcome of the
reassessment by an expert panel, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs, and insisted that the initial decision to reclassify cannabis was
"not necessarily" wrong.

Former home secretary David Blunkett downgraded the drug from Class B to
Class C - placing it alongside steroids and some prescription
anti-depressants - in January last year, thus making most cases of cannabis
possession a non-arrestable offence.

Mr Clarke has asked his independent advisors for particular guidance on the
Dutch government's plans to introduce a higher classification for more
potent types of the drug.

He also highlighted recent studies which suggested a link between cannabis
use and mental illness.

Mr Davis told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I wonder a little why it is
being done just a couple of weeks before a General Election, but yes I do
approve."

Mr Davis, who said he thought that Mr Clarke had never believed in the
policy, added: "It is right that they should revisit this, and reverse it.

"Frankly, I don't mind if this is driven by politics, I frankly want to get
the right decision out of this. I think a very, very, very wrong decision
was taken before...It was clearly a confused policy.

"It is clearly a part of a very seriously flawed overall drugs policy...We
have got more cheap hard drugs on the streets than ever before, there are a
whole series of problems here."

But Ms Flint insisted: "We are doing what is responsible in Government.
There is some new evidence which has been published as recently as March 1
that indicates that there might be some issues around the link between
cannabis and mental illness that we feel the advisory committee would need
to look at.

"Alongside that there have been questions about higher strengths of
cannabis in this country, commonly known as skunk, and we have asked them
to look at that issue too.

"I think it is a sensible response from a Government that has got a
thought-out drugs strategy."

And she stressed: "It (reclassification) is not necessarily the wrong
decision. We are seeking advice from an independent authority that advises
Government.

"It doesn't mean at the end of the day that we know the answer from the
Advisory Council. We wait to hear their advice."

Mental health campaigners have welcomed Mr Clarke's move.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said
the group was "relieved" at Mr Clarke's action.

She said: "Sane has campaigned for over 18 years to highlight the damaging
effects of cannabis, particularly on young people at risk of mental illness.

"Far from being a relatively harmless recreational drug, for vulnerable
teenagers the innocent spliff, or chilling out, could trigger a journey of
life-long disintegration."

Today the Home Office stressed that Mr Clarke's move will not affect the
decision on whether to give the go-ahead to a prescription form of cannabis.

The medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency is currently
deciding whether to give a UK licence to Sativex, a cannabis-based oral
spray, which its makers claim eased pain in cancer sufferers in recent trials.

A Home Office spokeswoman said today: "The review will not have any bearing
on consideration of the application for a cannabis-based medicine. We are
committed to reviewing that as quickly as possible."

The reassurance came as a study suggested large numbers of doctors are
unofficially advising their patients to try cannabis.

According to the study, published this week in the International Journal of
Clinical Practice, one in six people who use cannabis for medical reasons
say it was suggested to them by their doctors.

 

 

 

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