The party is setting up an expert panel to look at the case for legalisation of cannabis.
I am pleased to be serving on this exciting new venture – Liberal Dems set up expert panel on cannabis legalisation http://t.co/yioIw2Pb3V
— David Nutt (@ProfDavidNutt) October 12, 2015
Norman Lamb was on Newsnight last night (4 minutes 30 seconds in, following a report at 1m50s) explaining the idea.
The Guardian reports
The review panel members will include Prof David Nutt, the founder of DrugScience and a former chairman of the government’s advisory committee on the misuse of drugs, Tom Lloyd a former Cambridgeshire chief constable and chair of the National Cannabis Coalition, and Niamh Eastwood, the executive director of Release, a drugs charity. The panel is to be chaired by Steve Rolles, of the drugs policy campaign group Transform.
Lamb wants the expert panel to look at evidence from Colorado and Washington State, in the US, where cannabis has been legalised since 2012, and from Uruguay, and to make recommendations for the party’s conference next spring. He says a move to a legal cannabis market in Britain must be based on international evidence and include effective regulation to minimise the harm that cannabis can cause to health.
David Nutt was famously sacked by the Labour government for mentioning evidence they didn’t want to hear when that was his job.
It is a little over a year since he was fired from his post as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), for publicly stating that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis. “He cannot,” declared Alan Johnson, then home secretary, “be both a government adviser and a campaigner against government policy.” Nutt in turn wondered why the government wanted a scientific adviser, if it wasn’t interested in hearing scientific facts.
In politics there are truths that you don’t speak because of the message that it sends, and in science there aren’t – or at least there shouldn’t be. Johnson here accuses Nutt of taking a political position, for not debasing his science before the government’s political position.
* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.
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11 Comments
I think the reality is that personal drug use has more or less been decriminalised anyway. What’s left is a sort arbitrary form of token injustice exercised here and there with neither rhyme nor reason. I’m told that use of cannabis us has gone down, but in all honesty that’s not what my nose tells. I suspect that it’s now just so commonplace that no one reports it. And let’s be honest Conservative Governments always over claim on success in the war on drugs. Back in the 90s at the height of rave culture and Brit pop they were saying the same thing!
Well looking at the case for legalising a non-addictive substance whose legalisation is likely to produce a fall in crime, a raising of tax revenue, thousands of jobs created, a fall in traffic fatalities, a fall in public drunkeness and probable savings to the NHS and our police services (not to mention handing greater civil rights and quality control to consumers – with health warnings on the plain packaging) …. it really shouldn’t take too long to conclude ending prohibition for cannabis is preferable to the present situation.
Legalising cannabis is an idea that’s time has come. After years of flip flopping and introducing ten minute bills urging new labour to get tough and ban the sale of seeds the lib dems cannot be allowed to get the political benefits from supporting this now that the times have changed.
@david wallace
The times have only changed because there’s been 5 years of pro-legalisation politicians in power, commissioning reports and making the argument for it. You’re constantly fighting against the people that are fighting for your position. Its like watching someone repeatedly punching themselves in the face and blaming someone else. The party never did the things you said, a single MP, Tom Brake tried to introduce a bill in 2008 and he failed straight away. 3 years later he reversed his position and publically called for decriminalisation :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2059762/The-Lib-Dems-determined-drugs-decriminalised.html
The Lib Dems have never, to my knowledge, supported anti-cannabis legislation and your persistent misunderstanding of this subject is tedious. Please, get your facts straight!
It’s as if politicians taking your cause seriously is the very last thing you want and I’ve got no idea why. What do you think bitching about historical political events here achieves? I’ll tell you now, nothing at all; you shout at the wall in a quiet square of cyberspace and talk of deposing Willie Rennie, whilst Nick Clegg is running around Europe trying to persuade legislators to consider legalising cannabis at the upcoming EMCDDA talks!
@ChrisB
I think you misunderstand me Chris. If I believed the lib dems were serious about cannabis legalisation I would vote lib dem, it would be the logical thing to do in those circumstances.
But I have seen the way mainstream politicians have abused the issue, used it to rally the young and the liberally minded one minute, only to quietly betray them in the hope they won’t notice. 15 years ago when I was still in my 20’s the lib dems were promising this yet they back tracked on it. Ten years after they first promised it they got their first chance at national office and didn’t put it into the coalition agreement. The difference between you and I seems to be that I don’t believe the lib dems are sincere this time.
CISTA (wrongly in my opinion) refused to stand in any seat in 2015 where the incumbent MP was a green or liberal democrat. I believe the only way to stop the lib dems backtracking again is to show that CISTA can cost them seats which is why I want them to stand against willie Rennie in Fife.
I also don’t understand why the lib dems have been so cowardly on cannabis legalisation. On Monday will be the Canadian federal election which will be fought under FPTP. I predict the liberals will win, and they have pledged full legalisation, not decriminalisation. I also predict the U.S. state of Ohio will vote to legalise in next months referendum.
I’m appalled at how cowardly the politicians have been on this. If there are to be no more ten minute bills from the lib dems about banning seeds and arguing that the government aren’t tough enough they need to apologise for having done it, or else how can I believe them?
Prof David Nutt is probably the most qualified individual to head this review panel, excellent choice. When he was sacked for doing his job, because the uncomfortable truth did not sit well with Alan Johnson, my jaw dropped.
As a pharmacist, I was involved with the delivery of the drug and alcohol abuse programme at local authority level. Cannabis was never part of that programme, as it was never regarded as harmful as alcohol.
Let us be clear, though, cannabis use is harmful to health. It is not addictive in the sense that heroin, tobacco and alcohol are, but it can be habit forming. Harms, especially with prolonged, continuous, use include irreversible brain damage, memory loss, personality changes, panic attacks and other psychoses. The smoke contains carcinogens and can exacerbate asthma. While under the influence it reduces driving ability and cognitive functions. Cannabinoids interact with antidepressants and other neuropathic drugs causes.
However, it is less harmful than smoking or drinking. David Nutt developed this list of the top 20 harmful drugs, coming in at number 11.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/nov/02/david-nutt-dangerous-drug-list
Just because it is harmful, it is is no reason to make its use illegal, provided it is grown, imported and processed under license and sold through licensed sellers. This should take it out of the hands of organized crime. Legalizing cannabis will also improve the exchequers purse and reduce the workload of the courts and of an overstretched police force.
The review panel should look at the Colorado model in order to avoid some of the pitfalls that may arise as a result of legalizing cannabis production and use. Otherwise, legalization makes sense.
I hope the review panel will not advocate the legalization of other drug classes, although in some cases limited decriminalization may be a reasonable option. Each drug class should be assessed on its demerits.
Good luck to the new panel. With David Nutt at the helm we can expect a cogent, well thought out, policy.
@david wallace
>I think you misunderstand me Chris.
You could talk to Tom Brake, but instead of that you come here and complain about something that never happened whilst Lib Dem MPs are on TV, meeting politicians in Europe and setting up panels, trying to achieve what you say you want. What am I misunderstanding?
> didn’t put it into the coalition agreement.
You honestly think Clegg should of said to Cameron “weed is a dealbreaker for us”? Even though we were on the brink of financial collapse, we should of got the smokes in first?
The party of a decade ago isn’t the same party it is today, you’re hoping for revenge because Brake went a bit silly about seeds a decade ago, even though he’s since backtracked? Obviously CISTA isn’t going to cost anyone their seats, even if it did I can’t see how removing pro-cannabis representatives is going to in any way help achieve your intended goals.
>they need to apologise for having done it, or else how can I believe them?
You say “they”, but Tom didn’t have party support, and has since stated that he’s in favour of a more liberal, evidence-based drugs policy, as my link in the previous post showed. You’re intent on conflating Tom with the party as a whole, it doesn’t make any sense, perhaps someone could give Tom Brake a nudge and ask if he might come and set David straight?
>I also don’t understand why the lib dems have been so cowardly on cannabis legalisation.
…by going on national TV and being the only mainstream party to say “we support legalisation”? If they’re cowards, it doesn’t say much about your position, does it? The Lib Dems successfully got media coverage for talk of legalisation, with the leak of the first ever government report that’s pro-cannabis and starting a panel to explore legalisation, that’s beyond anything CISTA has ever achieved and will probably move things forward a lot faster than your bizarre plan to defeat Willie Rennie.
@ChrisB: I think what you’re misunderstanding is that I simply do not believe in the sincerity of their campaign, I believe it’s a temporary strategy to try and win back the student vote before a quiet u-turn to please the interfering busy bodies who want to tell people how to live their lives, the lib dems are riddled with those. This belief of mine is based on my experience of having been a lib dem member in the past.
As for Mr Brake’s campaign and ten minute bill I don’t believe he has backtracked as I do not know of any statement made by him saying that he regrets the campaign or regards it as a mistake. I imagine if he were asked about it he would still defend those actions today. I’d love to be proven wrong on this and being proven wrong on this would convince me that the liberal democrats have changed and are sincere about wanting cannabis legalisation. But I would hold my breath waiting for a statement from Tom stating that he believes that previous campaign was a mistake.
Let’s not forget the research which points to the links between high-strength cannabis and psychosis. The Lancet published an article to that effect recently. http://www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/pdfs/14TLP0454_Di%20Forti.pdf
I don’t think cannabis users should be criminalised, but legalisation is likely to lead to more drug use, more drug problems and more addiction because cannabis is addictve. Is that really what we want?
@Judy. Yes, I’m absolutely sure that’s what I want. I want it to be just as legal and available as alcohol, because as an adult I think I should get to decide how I live my life and what I do or don’t consume. It’s basic freedom really. I take it you wouldn’t like to grant me this freedom and are a lib Dem?
@David Wallace
You don’t think calling on Parliament to adopt the Portuguese model in 2010 was backtracking? I did post the link to an article explaining this, but to labour the point, in 2010 Tom Brake stated in Parliament : “Liberal Democrats have long called for a science-based approach to our drugs problem. So it is without hesitation that I support Bob Ainsworth’s appeal to end party political point-scoring, and explore sensitively all the options, through an Impact Assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act.”
From hemp.org : “Flynn previously called for the legalization of marijuana for medical use, introducing a bill to do so in 1999 and supporting another along with Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake in 2008.”
You’re slandering one of the people that managed to get a debate on this issue in Parliament, whilst your “plan” is to damage Willie Rennie (who I believe also supports your cause). Whilst the target of your ire has been advancing your goals, you’ve sat on the sidelines heckling. Ironically, the Daily Mail slate Tom Brake for the exact opposite reasons you do!
As for Judy – she’s not a political party, she’s a member and is entitled to whatever view she likes. I’m a Lib Dem and I completely support your position – I just think the way you present it is poor, factually inaccurate and ineffectual. You’re constantly pointing fingers at someone, I don’t see that as an effective political strategy.