Dopes
Saturday/02/Feb 2008 Filed in:
Legal Stuff
Its not
often that I have found myself in agreement with David Blunkett
(though I believe we both share a fondness for dogs and Yorkshire)
but I think that he's right when he says the reclassification of
cannabis would be a bad move.
Blunkett warns of drug 'confusion'
Clumsy and poorly implemented as the downgrading of cannabis was a couple of years ago, it hasn't resulted as far as we can tell in increased levels of use. The police, notwithstanding the ACPO calls for reclassification, have managed to police the current system. Given the figures for people coming into drug treatment for cannabis it appears that downgrading the drug has made it easier for some people to seek help. If we have lower levels of use and higher numbers of people seeking help, presumably the problem is getting better, not worse and the way we are dealing with it is working. The ACMD rejected calls to recommend reclassification in 2006. It is entirely likely that they will do so again. The signals from Whitehall are however that Gordon Brown will ignore their advice and reclassify the drug anyway.
When I was doing face to face drugs work, we used to see people quite regularly who needed to have a chat about their cannabis use. Now and then we'd go out to see parents who were worried about their kids. There weren't thousands of calls - but what we calls we got, we took seriously. We provided some basic advice, some information. I can't remember one cannabis user who committed crime to maintain their habit. I knew a fair few who were busted and spent time on probation or on one occasion did a short sentence for possession. I did know people who developed mental health problems that they felt were related to their cannabis use that required treatment. I worked with people who felt cannabis was a problem substance and those who felt that it did them no harm. I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "Drug, Set and Setting". For those who haven't, what this means is that many things affect the impact a drug can have on a human being. How you use it, where you use it, the people you use it with and your own personal experience and expectations of the drug will all impact on the experience you have with it. Like all drugs cannabis is potentially problematic and harmful.
Campaigners for reclassification say because of the harms we believe it causes, we must make it "more illegal" than it now is. There is an assumption that regrading cannabis would reduce the problems associated with it. As a letter to the Times of 28th January signed by a number of individuals who are very vocal on this side of the argument stated
"The regrading of cannabis would send strong signals, not only to the young people of Britain but all over the world, where other countries are watching our every move."
Classifying cannabis
Strong signals of this kind, may be morally reassuring, may improve Britain's reputation with those international bodies for whom the continuance of the war on drugs is a priority, may even convince people who'd already decided not to use cannabis that they were right in their decision, but will it stop people using the drug? Will it reduce the potential and actual harm,s of cannabis? Will it make it easier for us to deal with? Probably not.
In a piece of research conducted last year by the Joseph Rowntree foundation, a number of young adults were asked a range of questions about their cannabis use, they found"
"For the majority, the legal status of cannabis was an irrelevance and had no bearing on their decision to use it or not ... Most did not seem to concern themselves with the potential risk of being caught in possession or supplying cannabis to friends; it was not something they thought about ..."
The impact of heavy cannabis use on young people: Vulnerability and youth transitions
The UKDPC in their submission to the ACMD yesterday told us that:
"The decline in reported cannabis use amongst children and young adults since around 2001 appears to have been unaffected by reclassification. International evidence supports the view that legal status and levels of enforcement have little, if any, direct impact on prevalence. It is likely that wider social, cultural and economic factors, rather than classification status, are more important in influencing overall prevalence levels."
Submission
to ACMD cannabis classification review
If reclassification to class B is the chosen path for Mr Brown then he may like to look at making some meaningful contribution towards help for people with problems related to cannabis use. You see the recent changes in the pooled treatment budget across the country make it less not more likely that those people experiencing health or social problems related to cannabis use or caught up in the criminal justice system because of its reclassification will be able to access support from treatment services. This is not just due to the cutbacks in spending - but also to the fact that effectively those responsible for drug treatment are now having their allocation of funding based on the expectation that people approaching treatment services with cannabis problems - or for that matter amphetamine or powder cocaine problems - will have only half the amount of resources available to them as people who use heroin or crack. In addition to this in terms of meeting government targets, cannabis users won't really count as while they experience problems, they don't really commit acquisitive crime to fund their habits and they are unlikely to be dependant on the benefit system for the majority of their income.
Regardless of whether cannabis is class b or class C or class x, y or z, there are some things we need to make sure of
Firstly, people need information and access to advice and support about drug use - whether that's about cannabis, alcohol, coke or heroin. Young people in particular need good drug education and effective youth work support to help them develop the confidence to make decisions and understand the consequences of their actions.
Secondly, people who have problems with drugs need access to support and help. It shouldn't matter what drug it is that is causing them problems. Help should be articulated on the basis of the individual's experience, not on the legislative pigeon hole their drug use fits into.
Finally, the people who are dealing with drug problems on the ground - the counsellors and Drug Action Teams, communities and parents, need to have access to adequate resources to meet local needs - top provide drug education, to support people with problems and to tackle the problems related to drug markets - whether for illegal drugs like cannabis or legal drugs like alcohol.
Until we as a society are willing to make an investment in drug treatment that concentrates its efforts on meeting the needs of individuals and not the desire of newspaper editors and politicians to send out "strong messages" about being "tough on drugs" the needs of people who experience problems with cannabis will continue to go unmet - whatever class it is.
Blunkett warns of drug 'confusion'
Clumsy and poorly implemented as the downgrading of cannabis was a couple of years ago, it hasn't resulted as far as we can tell in increased levels of use. The police, notwithstanding the ACPO calls for reclassification, have managed to police the current system. Given the figures for people coming into drug treatment for cannabis it appears that downgrading the drug has made it easier for some people to seek help. If we have lower levels of use and higher numbers of people seeking help, presumably the problem is getting better, not worse and the way we are dealing with it is working. The ACMD rejected calls to recommend reclassification in 2006. It is entirely likely that they will do so again. The signals from Whitehall are however that Gordon Brown will ignore their advice and reclassify the drug anyway.
When I was doing face to face drugs work, we used to see people quite regularly who needed to have a chat about their cannabis use. Now and then we'd go out to see parents who were worried about their kids. There weren't thousands of calls - but what we calls we got, we took seriously. We provided some basic advice, some information. I can't remember one cannabis user who committed crime to maintain their habit. I knew a fair few who were busted and spent time on probation or on one occasion did a short sentence for possession. I did know people who developed mental health problems that they felt were related to their cannabis use that required treatment. I worked with people who felt cannabis was a problem substance and those who felt that it did them no harm. I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "Drug, Set and Setting". For those who haven't, what this means is that many things affect the impact a drug can have on a human being. How you use it, where you use it, the people you use it with and your own personal experience and expectations of the drug will all impact on the experience you have with it. Like all drugs cannabis is potentially problematic and harmful.
Campaigners for reclassification say because of the harms we believe it causes, we must make it "more illegal" than it now is. There is an assumption that regrading cannabis would reduce the problems associated with it. As a letter to the Times of 28th January signed by a number of individuals who are very vocal on this side of the argument stated
"The regrading of cannabis would send strong signals, not only to the young people of Britain but all over the world, where other countries are watching our every move."
Classifying cannabis
Strong signals of this kind, may be morally reassuring, may improve Britain's reputation with those international bodies for whom the continuance of the war on drugs is a priority, may even convince people who'd already decided not to use cannabis that they were right in their decision, but will it stop people using the drug? Will it reduce the potential and actual harm,s of cannabis? Will it make it easier for us to deal with? Probably not.
In a piece of research conducted last year by the Joseph Rowntree foundation, a number of young adults were asked a range of questions about their cannabis use, they found"
"For the majority, the legal status of cannabis was an irrelevance and had no bearing on their decision to use it or not ... Most did not seem to concern themselves with the potential risk of being caught in possession or supplying cannabis to friends; it was not something they thought about ..."
The impact of heavy cannabis use on young people: Vulnerability and youth transitions
The UKDPC in their submission to the ACMD yesterday told us that:
"The decline in reported cannabis use amongst children and young adults since around 2001 appears to have been unaffected by reclassification. International evidence supports the view that legal status and levels of enforcement have little, if any, direct impact on prevalence. It is likely that wider social, cultural and economic factors, rather than classification status, are more important in influencing overall prevalence levels."
Submission
to ACMD cannabis classification reviewIf reclassification to class B is the chosen path for Mr Brown then he may like to look at making some meaningful contribution towards help for people with problems related to cannabis use. You see the recent changes in the pooled treatment budget across the country make it less not more likely that those people experiencing health or social problems related to cannabis use or caught up in the criminal justice system because of its reclassification will be able to access support from treatment services. This is not just due to the cutbacks in spending - but also to the fact that effectively those responsible for drug treatment are now having their allocation of funding based on the expectation that people approaching treatment services with cannabis problems - or for that matter amphetamine or powder cocaine problems - will have only half the amount of resources available to them as people who use heroin or crack. In addition to this in terms of meeting government targets, cannabis users won't really count as while they experience problems, they don't really commit acquisitive crime to fund their habits and they are unlikely to be dependant on the benefit system for the majority of their income.
Regardless of whether cannabis is class b or class C or class x, y or z, there are some things we need to make sure of
Firstly, people need information and access to advice and support about drug use - whether that's about cannabis, alcohol, coke or heroin. Young people in particular need good drug education and effective youth work support to help them develop the confidence to make decisions and understand the consequences of their actions.
Secondly, people who have problems with drugs need access to support and help. It shouldn't matter what drug it is that is causing them problems. Help should be articulated on the basis of the individual's experience, not on the legislative pigeon hole their drug use fits into.
Finally, the people who are dealing with drug problems on the ground - the counsellors and Drug Action Teams, communities and parents, need to have access to adequate resources to meet local needs - top provide drug education, to support people with problems and to tackle the problems related to drug markets - whether for illegal drugs like cannabis or legal drugs like alcohol.
Until we as a society are willing to make an investment in drug treatment that concentrates its efforts on meeting the needs of individuals and not the desire of newspaper editors and politicians to send out "strong messages" about being "tough on drugs" the needs of people who experience problems with cannabis will continue to go unmet - whatever class it is.