Is this proof Mayor Khan’s gone potty?

The capital is in total gridlock, crime is out of control... yet the Labour mayor is posing in an LA cannabis factory

PRITI Patel yesterday slapped down London mayor Sadiq Khan after he announced a ‘commission’ to look at decriminalising cannabis in Britain.

The Home Secretary pointed out that Mr Khan has ‘no power’ to legalise illicit substances, and said his time would be ‘better spent’ focusing on tackling drug and knife crime in the capital.

It came after the mayor praised the ‘high standards’ of legalised cannabis farms in California during a taxpayer-funded US tour.

He also said he was launching a new London Drugs Commission, headed by former justice secretary Lord Falconer QC, to consider the decriminalisation of the class B drug in Britain.

The body will examine research from University College London, but will not look at changing the law on class A drugs.

Mr Khan said an ‘honest, open’ conversation was needed about UK cannabis laws and he hopes the panel will look at ‘what happens elsewhere in the world where the laws have been changed’.

But Miss Patel said: ‘Sadiq Khan’s time would be better spent focusing on knife and drug crime in London. The mayor has no powers to legalise drugs. They ruin commu

‘He has no powers to legalise drugs’

nities, tear apart families and destroy lives.’

During his four-day tour to the US, billed as a ‘fact-finding mission’, Mr Khan visited a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary and farm as well as a shop that sold products infused with the drug.

Describing the farm as ‘heavily regulated’, he said: ‘It’s important to see for ourselves what the parallel world of legalised cannabis looks like as a compare and contrast.’ He added: ‘Hearing from those who cultivate and grow this plant has been fascinating.’

Once the commission has completed its work, it will make recommendations to London’s City Hall, the Government, the police, and public health services.

Labour distanced itself from the plans, with a spokesman saying the party ‘does not support changing the law on drugs’.

About 2.6million people in the UK used cannabis in the year to March 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the main drug offence recorded in England and Wales last year was ‘possession of cannabis’,

Mr Khan’s spokesman said the mayor’s flights were provided free by United Airlines, adding: ‘The mayor is committed to keeping the costs of the visit to a bare minimum and maximising value for money.’