CANNABIS: THE MAIN RISK

Social reformers should continue to stay cool on the inevitably negative
reaction to the downgrading of cannabis just five days ago. There will be
several more weeks of bad news before it settles down. Even before the
start of its new classification - as a category C drug, the least dangerous
category - the British Medical Association launched an 11th-hour attack on
the move, expressing concern that reclassification might lead the public to
believe it was safe. This was in direct contradiction of its evidence to
the independent inquiry into the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act four years ago
when it declared: "The acute toxicity of cannabinoids is extremely low:
they are very safe drugs and no deaths have been directly attributed to
their recreational or therapeutic use." Sir Michael Rawlins, professor of
pharmacology at Newcastle University and chairman of the advisory council
on the misuse of drugs, was robust and blunt about this BMA about-turn,
suggesting it was "rather late in the day and rather ignorant about it all,
too".

There have been other grumbles in the past five days. True to their
tradition of running counter to the Association of Chief Police Officers,
the Police Federation, which represents the ranks, suggested the energy
spent reclassifying cannabis could have been better used for education and
treatment programmes. To be fair to the Fed, even some police chiefs have
criticised the reclassification on the grounds that confusion is created by
still making it an arrestable offence, which category C drugs are normally not.

Yet discretion is normally something police chiefs are only too eager to
seize. It was not just Brixton, in south London, where a pilot scheme
allowed the police to concentrate on hard rather than soft drugs, that
followed this line. As the Norfolk chief constable noted, the
reclassification in his area was "just formalising an existing informal
arrangement". What people need to note is the degree to which Brixton has
been made a safer place by the police concentrating on hard drugs. There
has been a dramatic reduction in crack dens, cocaine and heroin addicts,
and the street crime that finances these expensive habits.

No one suggests cannabis is completely safe. It can be particularly harmful
to a tiny minority of its 2 million plus users, who suffer from
schizophrenia. But its biggest danger is its diversion of police time.
Until last week it accounted for 75% of police inquiries related to drugs.
A Telegraph poll showed the public recognised the low medical risks and
accepted change. Indeed, over 50% wanted the government to go further and
decriminalise the drug.