Q3: Cannabis

"Is there any chance that you will reverse the position on cannabis that the Tories held at the last election and support the existing downgraded classification of this drug?"

David Cameron: “We considered this issue while I sat on the Home Affairs Select Committee. I’ve said that the Conservative Party, as part of its broad policy review and policy development process, should review the cannabis laws. I will accept the conclusions of that review. I do believe, however, that the classification of different drugs should reflect the harm they do and therefore send out a credible message to young people.”

David Davis: “No. As a parent bringing up children I know the worry and horror parents have about drugs and their children. Drugs ruin lives. I believe we need to have strong sentences for people who push drugs and extend powers to confiscate the proceeds of crime.  Together with strong action against those who deal in drugs I believe we have to do more to help those who are dependent on them. In my role as Shadow Home Secretary I committed us to a policy at the last election of expanding 10 fold the number of intensive residential drug treatment places providing for 50,000 patients a year with a programme of 6 months.”

Editor's Comment: "Another slam dunk win for the Shadow Home Secretary.  Earlier in the week David Davis noted that use of cannabis was the difference between passing exams and failing them for some children.  We all now know that cannabis is getting more potent on the streets and that it is linked to mental illness.  It can also be a gateway to other drugs.  Mr Cameron talks a lot about the "credibility" of drug classifications.  I doubt that young people pay much attention to the distinctions between different classifications.  There has been survey evidence which showed that young people thought that cannabis had been made legal following David Blunkett's downgrading in the last parliament (a downgrading that Mr Cameron supported at the time).  We need to be telling people that all drugs cause harm and on Britain's poorest estates they are a leading cause of social injustice.  Mr Cameron's liberal attitude to cannabis and ecstasy is the big hole in the safety-net offered by his 'modern compassionate conservatism'.  On the thread to Question Two, Charlie suggested that Mr Davis should be Mr Cameron's Chancellor because of his commitment to economy-boosting tax relief.  We might need DD to stay as Shadow Home Secretary, too, in order to veto this weakness on drugs."

The swing on the David-O-Meter reflects each individual question - it is not an overall assessment.

Comments

[Sam]

I agree with you Andrew, and I didn't mean to give the impression that I'd support playing fast & loose with drug laws.

I'm just very despondent that Conservatives such as ourselves often stand up for the rights of the individual in issues such as the tax, law & order, and the EU, yet are so automatically dismissive of applying the very same principle to social issues. We need to remain a pragmatic party, informed by science, and I'd prefer if we'd refrain from reverting to dogmas that were largely established on the religious moralities of yesteryear.

[John Coulson]

what what what?

[Patrick]

"We all now know that cannabis is getting more potent on the streets and that it is linked to mental illness."

I wonder if this is because everyone likes to say it is becoming more powerful without producing evidence to support their position.

I am quite surprised there was no mention of "skunk" or "super-skunk", as if the cannabis plant has miriculously evolved into an ultra powerful narcotic in the past 40 years.

Alcohol kills over 35,000 british a year through overdose and disease.

If alcohol were to be prohibited there would be even more deaths due to crime and badly produced alcohol, to seperate alcohol from other drugs is foolish. Just because it is well used does not mean it is not dangerous. There has been no evidence that cannabis can damage your health any more than alcohol or tobacco.

The new hot topic seems to be cannabises link to mental illness. This has been blown ludicrously out of proportion. Next time you are reading an article on how cannabis causes schizophrenia, notice they will never use the actual number who have schizophrenia that may be linked to cannabis use.

The risks are very small if you have no history of mental illness in your family.

Alcohol has been well known to "trigger" depression and agressive behaviour. With any mind altering substance there is a risk of causing harm to your mental health. Alcoholism is just as serious as schizophrenia, but we live in a free society where we should allow people to do what they want assuming they dont hurt anyone in the process. If we are going for drugs that cause harm 90% of hospital admissions on weekends in the UK are alcohol related, and the majority of violent crime on weekends is also alcohol related.

Why do we not ban this? Surely society would be better off without this scourge. But we have a thing called liberty in this country, and it should apply where appropriate, not just on a few things alot of people do.

But never mind all this nonsense, "it must be illegal for a reason", "aren't drugs bad?" and after all "We all now know that cannabis is getting more potent"

By the way i defy anyone to show me some evidence of this frequently made statment.

[Sam]

Why did the Dutch government panic about strong skunk and backtrack on some of their liberal laws about Cannabis cafes then?

[Andrew]

Urrrm, they didn't. There were a few political calls to try deter drugs tourists, but the locals are convinced the policy works to its stated aims of reducing the health/social side-effects of drug abuse.

The results are undeniable. Repeat ad nauseum: Dutch drug death rates lowest in Europe, 13 times lower per capita than Britain.

Everything I have read on this page seems to be the old cliche of 'drugs kill!'. This old mistake is built on by further mistakes. One comment I read seems to suggest somone does not believe in classification, others that drugs can only ruin lives. Negatives of cannabis are very limited- the IQ drop is only 5 points and is temporary, whilst (from what i have seen) cannabis most certainly does not ruin lives. I have smoked the drunk for 4 years now, and I'm approaching my As levels confident that I can achieve 3 As, chemistry, physics and maths. It would seem, therefore, that drugs have not ruined my life.
As for the suggestion that classification is 'buroceracy', all i can say is that this person is clearly ignorant. Heroin and cocaine are highly addictive, both easily capable of causing overdosing. On the other hand cannabis is NOT physically addictive. For this reason, classification is capable of determining different sentances dependant on harm done to society.
Cannabis users make their own choice to use cannabis. That choice has a very small effect on society. Users do not go out looking for fights, unlike those on the socialy accepted alcahol. Nor do they fund terrorists through the drug trade. Cannabis users are moving more and more towards home growing.
I would appreciate it if those that read this with a scepticle nature or ensuing anger at my veiws take more time to research both sides of the cannabis debate, as i have done. Cannabis is less harmful than socialy accepted forms of entertainment, beneficial in preventing glaucoma/ helping relax/ pain killing and generally a very pleasent discovery of civilization. Reclassifying it due to old, inbuilt morals would be a big mistake, and surely draw more to the harder drugs trade, aswell as cost alot more in police/jail funding.

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