Headings:
Facts
- In November 2003 Parliament approved the reclassification of cannabis from a class B drug to a class C drug by passing the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Modification) (No. 2) Order 2003. This applied to the whole of the UK.
- The change in law means that most cannabis users caught by the police will not be arrested. They will simply be verbally ticked-off and have the drug confiscated. The maximum sentence for possessing class C drugs is two years.
- The Criminal Justice Act 2003 made the possession of all class C drugs an arrestable offence, and dealing in class C drugs subject to a maximum 14-year prison sentence. These measures also apply to all class B drugs.
- Having asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review the decision to reclassify cannabis,1 in January 2006 the then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke announced he would accept the Advisory Council’s recommendation to keep cannabis in Class C. 2
- Instead of re-classifying cannabis back to Class B, the Advisory Council recommended “a substantial Government education campaign, strengthened medical services for those dependent on cannabis and greater protection for those with pre-existing mental conditions that place them at particular risk from cannabis use.”3
- The Advisory Council nonetheless concluded: “cannabis is harmful and its use can lead to a wide range of physical and psychological harms and hazards… the mental health effects of cannabis are real and significant…”4
Biblical arguments
The Bible teaches that drunkenness is wrong. “Do not get drunk on wine” (Ephesians 5:18). Jesus Christ refused stupefying drugs immediately before he was crucified (Mark 15:23). Intoxication and loss of control are intrinsic to drugs in a way that is not true of alcohol, and the Bible repeatedly condemns intoxication when it addresses drunkenness.
When intoxicated, people lose control. This can lead to wrong actions and irresponsible behaviour. Substance abuse leads to problems in health, relationships and work. Dependence on drugs compounds these problems.
Christians are instructed to “Be self-controlled and alert” (1 Peter 5:8). The law at present restrains drug taking because it is dangerous and acts as a necessary constraint for the good of all society. Christians must therefore take a stand as it becomes ever more fashionable to argue for the legalisation of all drugs.
Key arguments
Reclassifying cannabis sends out the wrong message that taking cannabis is OK. In 2005 the Secretary of the United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board criticised the UK Government’s decision to reclassify cannabis for this reason.5 In 2006 the Executive Director of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime also implicitly criticised the UK for reclassifying cannabis. He warned cannabis was now considerably more potent and that “it was a mistake to dismiss it as a ‘soft’ and relatively harmless drug…Policy reversals leave young people confused as to just how dangerous cannabis is.”6
Although advocates of reclassification said that cannabis was not being legalised, the effect is virtually the same. Abstruse arguments about whether it is technically decriminalised are lost on young people. Following publicity about the Government’s plans, the Department for Education and Skills was forced to issue guidance, reminding pupils that cannabis possession would remain illegal.7
Cannabis is far too dangerous to be classified as class C, alongside sleeping pills (e.g. Diazepam or Temazepam). Cannabis is a very harmful mind-altering drug. It causes schizophrenia, cancer and is responsible for a rising proportion of road deaths.
Cannabis acts as a gateway drug to harder illicit drugs. There is evidence that because cannabis and harder drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, have similar effects on the brain, cannabis may act as a gateway to those harder drugs. A study from New Zealand in 2000 found that heavy cannabis users were 59 times more likely than non-users to take other illicit drugs, such as ecstasy and LSD.8
The Police Federation of England and Wales was fiercely opposed to reclassifying cannabis, believing cannabis to be the number one illicit gateway drug.9
The Government argued reclassification was needed to put out a more effective message about the relative harm of cannabis. Yet the previous law was clear. Cocaine and heroin were class A, with cannabis as class B. There already was a clear distinction.
The Government also argued reclassification was needed to focus police time on class A drugs. Yet the police already concentred on class A drugs. Furthermore, as cannabis acts as a gateway drug, if more people take cannabis, more people will go on to take harder drugs. This approach is totally self-defeating.
The controversial cannabis pilot scheme run by Lambeth police which mirrored reclassification, led to open drug dealing on the streets of Brixton. The scheme resulted in a huge escalation of hard drug use and dealing.M10
In November 2004 police figures showed the number of people found carrying cannabis in London had risen 29% since reclassification came into effect in January.11
- 1Home Office Press Release, Classification of Cannabis, 057/2005, 19 March 2005
- 2House of Commons, Hansard, 19 January 2006, cols 982 to 984
- 3House of Commons, Hansard, 19 January 2006, col. 982
- 4House of Commons, Hansard, 19 January 2006, col. 982
- 5The Observer, 13 March 2005
- 6United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Press Release, UN Drugs Chief Sounds Warning about Afghan Opium Production, Cocaine Consumption in Europe, 26 June 2006
- 7The Independent, 29 April 2003
- 8Fergusson, D M and Horwood, L, J, ‘Does Cannabis Use Encourage Other Forms of Illicit Drug Use?’, Addiction, 95 (4), 2000, pages 505-520 and The New Zealand Herald, 13 May 2000
- 9The Police Federation – see http://www.polfed.org/wherewes/drugproblem.htm as at 15 October 2003
- 10The Observer, 23 June 2002
- 11‘Major Rise in Cannabis Possession’, BBC News, 22 November 2004, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/4032023.stm as at 16 March 2005
