Cannabis Confusion

It is very difficult to decide what is true and what is spin when it comes to the reclassification of cannabis.

The home secretary Jacqui Smith is determined to push ahead with the upgrade of the drug from class C to class B. But many see this determination as flying in the face of statistics and expert opinion.

Others welcome the move as being better late than never.

PRESTON

Several large cannabis farms were found in Preston in 2007 during a major crackdown by Lancashire Police. In June this year 100 cannabis plants were found by police in a house in Plungington.

And eight people are due at Preston Crown Court in January charged with incitement to produce cannabis.

While government statistics suggest that cannabis use is falling, the large-scale production of cannabis clearly takes place in the area.

With public opinion divided, what information is available, and how much of it can be trusted?

STATISTICS

In late October, British Crime Survey figures showed Cannabis use to be at its lowest in 10 years. This follows the government’s move to downgrade the drug to class C in 2004.

In a letter to the Guardian on 1^st December, the Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Professor David Nutt points out that the National Centre for Social Research suggested a fall in cannabis use in 16-24 year-olds since its peak in 1998 – from 28.2% to 20.9%.

But not all sources found cannabis use to be on the decline.

Professor Nutt was responding to a letter from Mrs Debra Bell, director of Talking Cannabis, an anti-cannabis pressure group. Mrs Bell suggests that its use is on the rise in teens.

And figures from Westminster released in November show that Cannabis cautions in Preston have shot up by 150% in the last 12 months.

So, while cannabis use has fallen across the country in the last 10 years, it seems to have risen, in Lancashire at least, in the last year.

But it may be that all of these confusing statistics have no bearing at all on the government’s decision.

SKUNK

Jacqui Smith has stated that the reclassification of cannabis reflects the increase in the use of skunk, a more potent herbal strain of the drug.

So all of the debate over the figures is skilfully sidestepped. While pro-cannabis campaigners point to falling usage, and anti-cannabis campaigners cite rising numbers of cautions, the government can ignore both sides and do as it pleases.