Cannabis News
Mayor of London wants to legalise cannabis in the UK
Cannabis UK legislation to be discussed by new commission
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has set up a new commission to look at decriminalising cannabis in the UK. Recently, on a trip to Los Angeles, the Mayor visited a cannabis dispensary.
He described the visit as ‘fascinating’ and wanted to start an ‘honest, open conversation’ about the history of cannabis and its legality in the UK.
Priti Patel, Home Secretary, believes that the commission is a waste of time and said ‘he [Khan] has no powers to legalise drugs’.
His own party has been fairly blunt about the matter. “Labour does not support changing the law on drugs,” a spokesperson said. “Drugs policy is not devolved to mayors and under Labour would continue to be set by national Government.”
Patel, made a jab in a tweet that the mayor’s time “would be better spent focusing on knife and drug crime in London”.
'Serious and reasoned debate' says Mayor of London
Khan’s new Commission, being headed up by former Justice Secretary Lord Falconer, looks to create a serious and reasoned debate around UK’s drug laws.
UK court rooms are utterly backed up with drugs cases. Any idea that harsh sentences would act as a deterrent is demonstrably false.
One third of the current prison population is linked to drug-related crime, causing massive strain on the justice system. Decriminalisation of cannabis would help immeasurably.
Since 1996, Cannabis has been legal for medical purposes, and was further decriminalised for recreational use in 2016. Eighteen states, including home of the capital Washington DC, have legalised it fully, and medical cannabis is available in 38. At the same time, Canada, Portugal, the Netherlands and other European states have reported a reduction in both violent crime and drug deaths.
In fact, Portugal decriminalised possession of all drugs in 2001 and has the lowest drug deaths in the EU.
A sensible approach is required though. Simply decriminalising, but not legalising, cannabis may not have the effect hoped for by forward-thinking policies like Khan wants to bring to the table.
Without regulation on the selling, taxing and advertising of the drug, a black market will still thrive and gangs will continue to run it.
Repeated polling has shown that the government are at odds with the public on the matter, though. In 2018 research showed that legalisation, if done right, could earn the Treasury up to £3.5bn in taxes.
This is the same amount, coincidentally, that the government is hoping to save by controversially dismissing 90,000 civil servants, as they declared in a contentious money-saving ‘purge’ plan last week.
