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UK: New look at rapist drugs but cannabis stays Class C
Richard Ford and Rosemary Bennett The Times
Friday 20 Jan 2006 PEOPLE caught with "date-rape” drugs face tougher penalties after Charles Clarke yesterday ordered experts to consider upgrading the classification of the substances’ dangerousness. The Home Secretary also announced plans for a complete overhaul of the classification system as he confirmed that he would not change cannabis from a Class C to a Class B drug. He said that the amount of cannabis a person could claim was for personal use would be much lower than 4oz - or 500 joints - as announced by the Home Office last month. Mr Clarke added that qat, a leaf chewed for its hypnotic effect and used widely in the Somali community, would not be classifed. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will carry out a new inquiry into the classification of the drugs GHB and Rohypnol, both of which have been misused by rapists. The two are Class C drugs, with possession carrying a maximum jail term of two years, but Mr Clarke wants the council to consider whether they are more dangerous and should be placed alongside Class B drugs such as amphetamines. He is also to publish plans for an overhaul of the way that drugs are classified and prohibited in Britain. The existing system - of Class A, B and C substances - had caused some people to misinterpret the downgrading of cannabis, the Home Secretary said. He told MPs that he would not reclassify cannabis - made a Class C drug two years ago - despite fresh fears about the drug’s side-effects. A public information campaign will be used to emphasise that the drug was "anything but harmless”. "Everyone needs to understand that cannabis is harmful and it is illegal,” Mr Clarke told the House. The advisory council had recommended that it should not be reclassified, but had given a warning about the dangers of its use. It said smoking cannabis might worsen asthma and damage the respiratory tract and that its use during pregnancy produced adverse effects on the child. The council’s report said that cannabis use might worsen the symptoms of schizophrenia and lead to a relapse in some patients. But it added: "For individuals, the current evidence suggests, at worst, that using cannabis increases the lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia by 1 per cent.” Mr Clarke came under attack from the Conservatives and rank-and-file police officers for his decision. But senior officers gave him their support. David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, accused him of failing to "grasp the nettle” by not reclassifying cannabis. David Cameron had supported a move to downgrade cannabis to Class C - a stance opposed by Mr Davis - but Tory party officials now confirm that reclassification to Class B is the new party policy.
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