Reclassifying cannabis from C to B might sound like a great idea, and to listen to Jacqui Smith you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a superb idea; after all she is “unwilling to risk the future health of young people”.

But let’s be frank, reclassifying cannabis will do nothing but soothe the worries of a moral minority, whilst completely failing to make cannabis users think twice about their actions.

For a start under-18s won’t be treated any more harshly under the new classification (apparently Jacqui isn’t that concerned about the health of young people), and let’s not forget that it’s at that age, before they reach maturity, when many people start down the path to habitual use.

If Brown’s Labour were serious about listening perhaps they would have listened to Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, who told them changing the classification would not produce the desired result…
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