Smoke signals:
cannabis law
to be relaxed

The Home Office today defended its decision to relax the law on cannabis in the face of criticism from a United Nations anti-drugs panel that it is "sending the wrong signal".

Leading drugs charity DrugScope said credibility of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) had been damaged by its report, published today, which concluded Home Secretary David Blunkett's policy would damage the UK's health and could increase cannabis supplies on Britain's streets.

In the 90-page report the INCB said it was "concerned" about the move to downgrade the drug so possession will not be an arrestable offence for the vast majority of users.

The board's Nigerian president, Philip Emafo, said: "It is important that consensus prevails in international drug control.

"No government should take unilateral measures without considering the impact of its actions and ultimately the consequences for an entire system that took governments almost a century to establish."

Asked if Mr Blunkett's policy was sending a bad message to the world, the INCB's Professor Hamid Ghodse told reporters in London: "Indeed. That stands to any logic.

"Our young people are confused. On one hand you are telling them not to go to clubs and use Ecstasy because it is dangerous, but on the other hand you are not doing anything about cannabis."

Mr Blunkett is due to take final steps towards reclassifying cannabis from Class B to Class C this summer.

Once new police guidelines from the Association of Chief Police Officers are in place, people found in possession of small amounts of cannabis will only be arrested in "exceptional" cases, such as when they cause a disturbance or blow smoke in a police officer's face.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We do not accept the INCB's statement that the decision to reclassify will lead to confusion and they are wrong to say that this sends a signal that we have decriminalised cannabis.

"Reclassification, based on scientific evidence from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, does not legalise cannabis but does make clearer the distinction between cannabis and Class A drugs like heroin, crack and cocaine - the drugs that cause the most harm to individuals and families, that tear apart communities and turn law-abiding citizens into thieves.

"Reclassification of cannabis enables us to put out a more credible - and therefore effective - message about the harmfulness of different drugs and allows the police to focus its resources on tackling the drugs that cause the most harm and this is a view shared by communities up and down the country.

"Cannabis is a harmful substance that still requires strict controls to be maintained.

"That is why we intend to reclassify it as a Class C drug."

Today's report on the international drug situation said the UK Government's reclassification of cannabis "could lead to increased cultivation of cannabis destined for the UK and other European countries".

A conference in Nairobi last September heard that the UK's reclassification would "undermine the efforts of governments of African countries to counter illicit cannabis cultivation, trafficking and abuse," said the document.

Mr Blunkett's initiative had led to "worldwide repercussions ... including confusion and widespread misunderstanding."

The report said cannabis was "not a harmless drug as advocates of its legalisation tend to portray".

It can affect the functioning of the brain, is linked with heart attacks in young people, lung disease and cancer, it added.

A recent study by the British Lung Foundation found smoking three cannabis joints caused the same damage to the linings of the airways as 20 cigarettes, said the document.

However, leading drugs charity DrugScope said the INCB's credibility had been thrown into doubt by its reliance on "dubious science and misleading conclusions".

When the British Lung Foundation research quoted in the report was published last year, it was wholly rejected by anti-smoking group Action on Smoking on Health (ASH), said DrugScope.

There had also been concerns that the research drew misleading conclusions from research more than 15 years old.

DrugScope chief executive Roger Howard said: "The credibility of the INCB is thrown into doubt when its criticism of the UK government's sensible proposal to re-classify cannabis is based on dubious science and misleading conclusions."

He pointed out that the UK's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs supported the Home Secretary's proposal to re-classify cannabis after a "thorough review of the international scientific evidence".

Mr Howard continued: "Throughout Europe, Australasia and Canada, scientific experts and a growing number of politicians agree that very strict regimes applied to the control of cannabis causes disproportionately more harm to society than the harm caused by the substance itself."