London mayor backs file calling for hashish decriminalisation

The ownership of small amounts of hashish for private use must be decriminalised, a file subsidized through the London mayor has concluded.

The file through the London Drugs Commission, chaired through former Labour cupboard minister Lord Falconer, makes 42 suggestions, together with getting rid of herbal hashish from the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).

Sir Sadiq Khan stated present regulations “cannot be justified”, including that the fee’s findings had supplied “a compelling, evidence-based case” for decriminalisation.

David Raynes, of the National Prevention of Drugs Alliance (NPDA), stated any aid within the prison penalties round hashish would wrongly ship the message that “cannabis was less harmful”.

Lord Falconer stated that whilst “legalisation is not the answer”, the felony justice gadget must “focus only on the dealers and not the users”.

The file makes suggestions in spaces masking schooling, healthcare and the policing of hashish.

Among the suggestions, it says herbal hashish must be got rid of from the MDA, the place it is regarded as Class B along medication like ketamine, and as an alternative deal with it as a managed substance underneath the Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA).

The file states: “The possibility of a custodial prison sentence of any length, but certainly up to the current maximum of five years, for possession of cannabis for personal use feels excessive.”

While acknowledging that it is rather uncommon for someone to be sentenced anyplace with reference to the 5 years, the authors stated the “consequences of serving any time in prison are significant”.

The file states that cops regularly determine hashish ownership thru using forestall and seek which “continues to be utilised in a racially disproportionate way”.

Its authors name for the suspicion of hashish ownership to be got rid of as a explanation why officials can begin a seek.

The authors argue even if an individual is located with an quantity deemed past private use, the present prison penalties “feel extreme, relative to the dangers of cannabis itself”.

Regulating hashish underneath the PSA, the authors argue, would disclose fewer folks to forestall and seek, assist take on “racial disproportionality”, and make any prison penalties “commensurate with the risks posed”.

They upload decriminalising it will scale back the affect on those that take hashish for medicinal functions however aren’t ready to get a prison prescription.

Janet Hills, the fee’s deputy chair who was once a former detective sergeant and chair of the Met’s Black Police Association, stated it was once time to “shift in our approach to cannabis enforcement”.

She stated the suggestions would “create a more equitable and just system”.

Among the opposite suggestions made within the file are to:

• Improve public well being services and products for cannabis-related hurt, together with higher remedy get entry to and coordination
• Enhance hashish schooling with previous, age-appropriate, and credible content material in faculties and past
• Support truthful get entry to to scientific hashish, together with addressing value boundaries and increasing analysis
• Monitor global tendencies and re-examine the case for broader legalisation in 5 years

Lord Falconer stated: “Those who suffer from the adverse effects of cannabis – which may be a small percentage of users but it is a high number of people – need reliable, consistent medical and other support. And there needs to be much more education on the risks of cannabis use.”

Mr Raynes, who has lengthy been in opposition to any liberalisation in Britain’s drug coverage, stated that the file’s authors have been making an attempt to “modify the law as gently as possible”.

“The real danger is that we send a signal to the youth of London that cannabis is less harmful,” he stated.

Asked concerning the level made within the file that hashish continues to be extensively used in spite of the present prison penalties, Mr Raynes stated it was once about “restricting the damage” carried out through unlawful elements.

He added that the London Drugs Commission, which Sir Sadiq established in 2022, was once “an enormous piece of self-indulgence by the mayor” in a coverage space by which he has no authority over.

Responding to the file, the mayor stated: “I’ve long been clear that we need fresh thinking on how to reduce the substantial harms associated with drug-related crime in our communities.”

He added: “We must recognise that better education, improved healthcare and more effective, equitable policing of cannabis use are long overdue.”

The Home Office has been requested to remark at the file.

In March, Dame Diana Johnson, a minister on the division, stated the federal government had “no plans” to legalise hashish however didn’t deal with decriminalisation.

In a 2023 interview as opposition chief, Sir Keir Starmer stated drug coverage was once “settled” in the United Kingdom.