|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Charity applauds Government study recommending cannabis is reclassified
Ananova
Thursday 14 Mar 2002 The Government has been urged by a charity to take a step towards downgrading cannabis after a Home Office-commissioned report said the current classification is not appropriate. Medical experts from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommend that cannabis be reclassified from a class B narcotic to a class C. They say although cannabis is harmful, the current classification is disproportionate to its risks to health and to other drugs in the same category, such as amphetamines. The Home Office says a decision about whether to adopt the proposals would be made after consideration of a pilot project in Lambeth, south London, and a Home Affairs select committee inquiry into the drugs strategy. Both are expected to report by Easter. The charity DrugScope has welcomed the report as a step towards a more "logical and pragmatic" drugs policy. Roger Howard, chief executive of DrugScope, said: "It is refreshing to have a Home Secretary who is at last willing to open up the debate on drugs and consider moving towards a more logical and pragmatic drugs policy. "Today the ACMD has provided the hard scientific evidence that backs up the move to reclassify cannabis and we hope the Home Secretary will quickly implement its advice." Mr Howard said he hoped the move would end the prosecution of people found with small amounts of cannabis and rejected claims that it would lead to an increase in drugs use. But Paul Betts said the Government had reneged on its promises to be hard on drugs. The father of ecstasy victim Leah Betts and now a drugs awareness campaigner, said it was the start of the "slippery slope" towards decriminalisation. The report found that the use of cannabis, which has increased dramatically over the last 20 years, was not associated with major health problems and occasional use only rarely leads to significant problems in healthy people.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!