Decriminalise possession of cannabis, urges Corbyn
JEREMY Corbyn last night called for the possession of cannabis for recreational use to be decriminalised – partly because enforcement of the law was angering young people in his constituency.
The Labour leader argued it was wrong for young people to have criminal records after being caught with the drug.
His remarks come amid a renewed debate over the legalisation of the substance, following the first-ever NHS prescription for cannabis oil being given to 12-year-old Billy Caldwell to treat his epilepsy last month.
But campaigners have warned against a blanket decriminalisation of the narcotic that is linked to mental illness, organised crime, violence and road deaths.
Mr Corbyn, who is MP for Islington North, yesterday told Sky News: ‘We have to look at the health concerns of any drug that people take. No drug is without consequences when people take it and personally I don’t take any drugs at all and I think we should just think about it quite carefully.’
But when pushed on whether he had changed his mind since 2000 when he signed a Commons motion calling for the possession of cannabis to be decriminalised, he replied: ‘No.’
He added: ‘Criminalising people for possession of small amounts of cannabis is not particularly a good idea and does lead to great difficulties, particularly for younger people in communities like mine so I do think the debate is moving on.’
Mr Corbyn’s remarks come after former Tory leader Lord Hague last month urged ministers to be ‘ bold’ and legalise cannabis for recreational use – meaning it could be sold in shops with alcohol and tobacco. The peer claimed the war on the class B drug had been ‘comprehensively and irreversibly lost’.
Lord Hague, who took a hardline stance on cannabis as Tory leader, said the Prime Minister should introduce a ‘major change
‘New risks for people’
in policy’ by imitating Canada, which is on the verge of legalising the drug for recreational use. ‘The idea that this can be driven off the streets and out of people’s lives by the state is nothing short of deluded,’ he said. The Government has announced a review of the rules on medicinal cannabis following the outcry over Billy, whose mother had been banned from using cannabis oil to treat his violent and life-threatening epileptic seizures.
But Downing Street has made clear that it has no plans to legalise or decriminalise cannabis for recreational use.
NHS chief executive Simon Stevens has also warned that is important not to confuse the issue of the medical use of cannabis with debate around the decriminalisation, or legalisation, of marijuana.
He warned that legalising cannabis risked making children believe it was safe, adding: ‘We have got to make sure we don’t inadvertently introduce new risks for people.
‘In countries where marijuana has been decriminalised, often young people, teenagers, come to think of smoking marijuana as safe. Whereas let’s be clear, actually it isn’t. For around 10 per cent it will become addictive, it increases the risk of longterm psychiatric problems such as depression or psychosis.’
Cannabis was reclassified in 2009 from a class C to a class B drug, which meant higher jail sentences for possession.
But in the decade since, the police and courts have dealt with fewer cases. The number of cannabis seizures by police fell from 182,930 in 2008-09 to 96,604 in the year to March 2017.
Despite increasing warnings over health problems linked to the drug, police chiefs in at least four forces – Derbyshire, Dorset, Surrey and Durham – have signalled that cannabis users and growers are no longer a priority.