Decriminalise cannabis? This is why you should think again

A new book examining the impact of cannabis on physical and mental health caught my eye this week. Entitled “The Epidemiology of Cannabis” it explores the serious harms caused by the drug, highlighting the little known risks from its use.

My fellow Police and Crime Commissioner in Dorset, David Sidwick, wrote the foreword to the book and uses it as the basis for a letter to the Policing Minister, calling for cannabis to be re-classified as a Class A drug.  While I suspect the Government is not yet politically ready for such a change, and evidence needs to build, I do think policy makers should do much more in terms of prevention and education, to address the likelihood of illegal gateway drugs like cannabis leading users onto the road of addiction and crime to fuel their dependency.

As David points out, and I agree, it is clear from emerging scientific and medical research that the health risks are much more extensive than first thought. Mental issues like psychosis and autism, as well as physical conditions including serious cancers and birth defects. The reason is that cannabis is a ‘genotoxin’ affecting the very core of life itself. So it is no surprise that it has been implicated in over 20 cancers and more birth defects than thalidomide.

I have always been clear about the malign impact I know cannabis and other illegal gateway drugs can have on physical and mental health. Not to mention the pernicious effect on others through drug driving, which is ever more prevalent on our roads. All reasons why I, and the region’s other PCCs, are determined through regular police operations to make the South West no place for drugs.

Yet currently, Class A drugs take precedence when it comes to enforcement and treatment, when it is my view that we should also stop people getting on the first two or three rungs of the addiction ladder. Our [South West PCCs] concern is that the time is becoming critical as we foresee a tipping point where resource pressures make it almost impossible to police this particular drug effectively.

Re-classification of cannabis as a Class A drug might be out of reach for the moment, but I would certainly like to see more money and resources put into prevention and education to open the eyes of people, young and old, to its very real dangers.