Cannabis

HC Deb 20 January 2004 vol 416 cc1208-9W

Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policies to tackle cannabis abuse. [148603]

Caroline Flint

The Government are determined to support the police in tackling the problem of drug abuse with an effective and realistic approach to drug legislation, enforcement and education. Cannabis will not be legalised or decriminalised. It is a harmful drug that will remain illegal following its reclassification as a Class C drug on 29 January.

Our drugs laws and our educational messages to young people must reflect the relative harms of drugs, in accordance with the available scientific and medical advice, if they are to be credible. Reclassification will enable a more convincing and ultimately more effective educational message to be conveyed to young people about the dangers of misusing different types of drug, including cannabis.

We are publishing information about what reclassification will mean in practice—through making a leaflet widely available to young people and through extensive radio advertising, beginning on 22 January—to ensure that the clear message that cannabis is illegal and harmful continues to be heard. This information will feed into the three year FRANK publicity campaign to better inform people's understanding of drugs and to provide a single, easily accessible source of advice and support for those affected by drug use. This will help young people, in particular, to understand what will happen to them if they are found in possession of cannabis (or any other illegal drug) or are supplying drugs.

Reclassification also sends a clear signal to the police that the priority is Class A drugs, like heroin and crack cocaine, which do the most harm. The Association of Chief Police Officers' cannabis enforcement guidance is rightly directed at ensuring that those who cause public order problems, those who persist in misusing cannabis, and those who use cannabis close to places where children are present are dealt with appropriately. But where none of these factors apply, it is not right that someone who is an adult who is found with cannabis should take up police time.

Time saved as a consequence of policing cannabis possession offences in this way, following reclassification, will provide the police with an opportunity to focus greater resources on priority areas like tackling Class A drug supply offences.