THE DRUG PROBLEM THE GOVERNMENT DESERVES

A United Nations report yesterday implicitly condemned Britain for
downgrading cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug. It added that
new strains of the drug meant it was not "soft and relatively
harmless". It said cannabis-related health damage is increasing, and
that lax policies confuse young people about the harm cannabis causes.

Most caustically, it said countries whose governments pursue weak
policies "get the drugs problems they deserve".

The effects of this failure are all too clear in Britain today. Senior
police estimate that more than 70 per cent of crimes are drug-related.
The terrifying epidemic of casual knife crime is being widely
attributed to these causes.

One argument against stiffer sentences for such criminals is that as
their mind is altered by drugs when they offend, greater punishment is
no deterrent. Perhaps the deterrent should be sufficient to remind
them, when they are not under the influence, of the consequences of
becoming so. Perhaps, more to the point, it is time the Government
realised that protecting society from unprovoked, violent crime by
taking a hard line against drugs users and dealers would be very much
in the public's interest.

Sadly, leaders of all political parties seem afraid to speak out or
act against drugs use. There was a review earlier this year of whether
cannabis should be upgraded again, but it was decided to leave it as
Class C so the police could focus on Class A substances. This is based
on a wrong conception of the harm cannabis does.

As for the Conservatives, when the then home affairs spokesman Ann
Widdecombe called for zero tolerance of drugs she was howled down by
those who felt she was unfashionable and out of touch.

David Cameron is on record as supporting the declassification of
cannabis when he served on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee,
and has not rescinded this view since becoming leader. In short,
politicians are afraid to condemn drugs use and seek firm action
against users and pushers because they fear it may prevent them from
looking "modern".

Such attitudes are dangerous. Drugs use is physically damaging
thousands of our young people. Those who start with the "soft" Class C
often progress to Class A. The violent and erratic behaviour in which
they may indulge harms them, their families, their friends and, in a
distressingly growing number of incidents, their innocent victims.

Cannabis should be re-classified as Class B without delay. The
Government should then make it clear to the police that there is the
unequivocal political will to enforce the law - however many more
prison places that might require.