Cannabis crimes down amid plan for a harder line

Possession of cannabis soared in Avon and Somerset throughout the lockdowns but has now fallen below prepandemic levels – as Home Secretary Suella Braverman considers making ‘weed’ a Class A drug.

Ms Braverman reportedly told allies she was on the “same side” as a group of Conservative police and crime commissioners who had called for the drug to be put on par with cocaine.

Upgrading cannabis from Class B would see the maximum penalties for possession increase from five to seven years, while the maximum penalty for supply would rise from 14 years to a life sentence.

The Government is already consulting on tougher penalties that could see recreational drug users lose their passports and driving licences.

It comes as the latest Home Office figures show that crimes of possession of cannabis have fallen by 26% in Avon and Somerset, to 1,839 crimes recorded in the year ending March 2022.

Before the pandemic, in the year ending March 2020, Avon and Somerset Police recorded 2,266 crimes of possession of cannabis. The following year – after lockdown restrictions were introduced – that increased by 9% to 2,477 offences, before plummeting last year to 19% below the pre-pandemic figure.

That is probably because police were more likely to stop people during the pandemic, for example on suspicion of breaching lockdown rules, and that may have led to officers finding cannabis on more people than during a normal year.

But data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that the pandemic did not disrupt the drug trade. In fact around 6% of adults aged between 18 and 59 smoked cannabis during the pandemic – the equivalent of around 1.8 million adults.

Separate court figures show that during the calendar year 2021, 240 people were convicted of possession of cannabis in Avon and Somerset – up from 245 the previous year – including five people who received immediate custodial sentences.

Tory PCCS made the case for reclassifying cannabis at the party conference in Birmingham. In remarks cited by The Times and the BBC, David Sidwick, the Dorset PCC, said: “We’re seeing it because it’s a gateway drug.

“If you look at the young people in treatment, the number one drug they are in treatment for is cannabis.”

If cannabis were reclassified, that would be the third time the law has changed in the 21st century. It was downgraded from Class B to Class C in 2001, effectively decriminalising the drug. A 2005 Home Office report estimated that 199,000 police hours were saved as a result.

However, in 2007 the drug was made a Class B substance again, against the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

But while Britain appears to be heading in one direction with regard to cannabis laws, many other countries are moving in the opposite direction. Nations including Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Georgia and some American states have legalised recreational use. Germany is currently in the process of changing the law to allow the controlled distribution of cannabis among adults.

Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that more than a third of adults aged between 18 and 59 (37%) have smoked cannabis at some point in their lives – the equivalent of about 12 million people.

Supporters of legalisation claim cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and it would take the trade out of the hands of criminal gangs.