Cannabis 'less harmful than drinking'

Updated 15.12 Thu Oct 02 2008
Keywords: smoking, alcohol, Jacqui Smith, dope, cannabis

Cannabis use is less harmful than drinking or smoking cigarettes and should be legalised, according to a report.

The Beckley Foundation's Global Cannabis Commission says banning the drug has backfired and calls for a "serious rethink" of drugs policy.

"Many of the harms associated with cannabis use are the result of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment" - Global Cannabis Commission

The foundation said the ban has had little or no impact on supply and has turned users in to criminals.

It added: "Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.

"Historically there have only been two deaths worldwide attributed to cannabis, whereas alcohol and tobacco together are responsible for an estimated 150,000 deaths per annum in the UK alone.

"Many of the harms associated with cannabis use are the result of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment."

Cannabis was downgraded to class C in 2004, making police unlikely to arrest people carrying small amounts.

But Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has pledged to reclassify the drug to class B to avoid "risking the future health of young people".

Mental health experts have warned stronger, more damaging, strains of dope have become more widespread in recent years. Four fifths of cannabis seized by police is skunk.

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