UK: Government reclassifying cannabis despite fall in use

October 31, 2008
Government reclassifying cannabis despite fall in use

Illegal drug use is in decline in England and Wales with cannabis use at its lowest level for a decade, according to a report.

Despite the fall in use of cannabis, the Government said it was determined to press ahead with reclassifying the drug from Class C to Class B in January.

The Home Office said the decision to reclassify was taken on the basis of the potential of cannabis to cause harm not on the prevalence of its use.

â??We have to ensure that the classification of cannabis reflects the alarming fact that skunk, the highest potency herbal cannabis, now dominates the cannabis market, and we must respond robustly to reverse the massive growth in the commercial cultivation of cannabis in the United Kingdom in the last few years," the spokesman said.

"Reclassifying cannabis will help to drive enforcement priorities to shut the 'cannabis farms' down."

Figures from the British Crime Survey for 2007/8 show that 9.3 per cent of those aged 16-59, about 3m people, used an illegal drug in the last year.

That was down from 10 per cent the previous year and is the lowest level recorded since the survey began carrying drug use figures in 1996.

The Home Office said the fall was mainly a result of reductions in the use of cannabis. An estimated 7.4 per cent of adults 16-59, about 2.4m people, said they had used cannabis in the last year.

That was down from 10.9 per cent in 2002/3, the year before cannabis was downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug.

The use of Class A drugs, including cocaine and heroin, also fell slightly last year with 3 per cent of adults or 949,000 people saying they had used them in the previous year.

Yesterdayâ??s figures do not reflect the full extent of drug use as the BCS does not interview youngsters under 16 and as a household survey it misses groups with a potentially high rate of drug use: the homeless, students living in halls of residence and prisoners.

Separate figures published yesterday showed a 15 per cent increase in drug seizures in 2006. There were 186,028 drug seizures, a level not seen since 1973.

But the seizure record was mainly a result of a 44 per cent rise in the confiscation of small amounts of herbal cannabis after the introduction of police warnings for personal possession of the drug in 2004.

The data on drugs was accompanied by a released on alcohol licensing figures showing that the number of licensed premises continued to increase after the reform of licensing laws introduced extended opening hours.

There was a 6 per cent increase to 195,500 in the number of premises licensed to sell alcohol which can range from public houses to community centres.

Official figures show the number of "24-hour" alcohol licences rose to 6,700 in March this year, from 5,900 in March 2007.

Of the 24-hour licences, the vast majority â?? 4,100 â?? are for hotel bars; a further 1,300 are supermarkets and stores.

The number of pubs, bars and nightclubs with round-the-clock licences rose from 600 to 700.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the licensing minister, said: â?? The small rise in the number of 24-hour licences shows people are taking advantage of the flexibility on offer â?¦ the predicted explosion in 24-hour drinking has failed to materialise.â?�

Government reclassifying cannabis despite fall in use - Times Online
--------------------------------------
I blame this on the American government and their behind the scenes ties to and pressures on other countries... DEA & ONDCP have a global scale business and influence, sadly:mad:

Yeah it is likely that this is due to pressure from the US. Our lame gov tries to pull shit like this with Canada all the time. Did someone say Marc Emery?
Oh wait I did.

Well dont be suprised when the the same type of thing goes down state side. I imagine the DEA would love nothing more than to have cannabis reclassified to its own category, Schedule 0 maybe.

I find it pretty funny and also pretty sad that they decided to reclassify when the data shows that whatever drug control policy is in place seems to be working. I guess this is always the behavior of the drug war terrorists: If a harsh policy is working it's best to make it harsher. :(

what happens when they find out that alot of flowers can be dried and smoked ....or banana peels can be smoked.............are they going to be illegal too????

funny thing is the US government paid farmers to cutivate hemp during WW2

its a weed...its been around before we were twinkles in our dads eyes.... it will be here long after we are all dead and gone

They already have other natural plants that are banned. Its a pretty sick society when you start banning nature. I don't think many people really think about that. How do you ban a plant?:wtf:

Was listening to the radio the other day......todays teenager the MJ use is down...just like in the UK.....what they arent saying is the use of the legal drugs has gone up 200% the kids get into moms and dads prescriptions to get high.... they prefer it

percocet, oxycotton are the drugs of choice with kids ... great our kids love synthetic heroine

its sad that the government can manufacturer any drugs we have that are illegal....but because they made them they are legal.

The government cant make weed??? but they can process/synthisize most of the other drugs and make them legal and get a slice of the pie

If the US government would legalize weed and prositition...regulate and tax it we would be out of the national defecit in no time

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by VapedG13

Was listening to the radio the other day......todays teenager the MJ use is down...just like in the UK.....what they arent saying is the use of the legal drugs has gone up 200% the kids get into moms and dads prescriptions to get high.... they prefer it

percocet, oxycotton are the drugs of choice with kids ... great our kids love synthetic heroine

its sad that the government can manufacturer any drugs we have that are illegal....but because they made them they are legal.

The government cant make weed??? but they can process/synthisize most of the other drugs and make them legal and get a slice of the pie

If the US government would legalize weed and prositition...regulate and tax it we would be out of the national defecit in no time

---

it's the golden rule vape! take a drug dealer and legalize what he sells and he's called a CEO! that's the problem. the drug companies are one of the biggest controllers of washington. ever since they decided it would be in "our" best interests to privatize insurance. it's a joke. how many drug deaths have been cause by chantix this year? i'm not sure of the number but i'm pretty sure it's number one! and tylenol/ibuprofen is up there in the top 3 and that's otc. come on FDA!

weed is another one of those things that unites people, that removes the rift caused by labels they put on people. the government fears that. and yes our youth are addicted to synthetic heroin (heroin comes from the poppy plant). but as long as they are on heroin which they start using by taking it from their parents medicine cabinet, it's a home problem. it's the parents fault. not drug companies, not the governments. they don't have to deal with it or take the blame. you fix it, it's your kid. they got it at home.

you ever hear of anyone killing anyone to get high on weed? being violent? now how about heroin? and once they are high, they nod out and sleep. so high on heroin peeps don't do shit when high, but the police put em in jail for the violence. now the heads on weed don't usually use violence, at least not for or when using weed, and when high they are united, share common thoughts and are more apt to do something, if they could just get off the couch. that's our job, to get off the couch and do something!

it's thought that one reason they outlawed weed in 1937 was because they associated it with the mexicans that came north for work. when work was down they apparently just hung out and smoked weed. so people associated jobless (probably laziness) and immigrant workers and the troubles that come with being unemployed with smoking cannabis. and then in jazz clubs in the south. jazz obviously being predominantly african-american at the time, so when they were smoking reefers outside of clubs and then any violence broke out they linked the two. some also believe the drug laws in the south are so harsh as a way of keeping Jim Crow laws around in different clothing.

-shake

I love how the reason cited for all of this is that stronger shit is now on the market (GASP!!!) If anybody actually stopped and thought about this in an unbiased manner unclouded by DEA lobbying and knee-jerk reactions, they'd realize this may be positive. Weed doesn't kill your brain cells or give you cancer, but it could potentially hurt your respiratory system...so what's healthier...smoking 1 joint of really strong shit and being good to go, or choking your lungs on 5 joints of low potency? Fucking morons.

And yeah, the powers that be would rather have a culture of helpless pill-poppers addicted to the various harmful concoctions that Pharma would pour down your throat at 30 bucks a pill. The only reason medical marijuana isn't being utilized to its full potential is the drug companies' inability to patent it. Honestly, I hate the pharmaceutical companies so much that I simply refuse to use any of their products unless I would die if I didn't or something....if I have an agonizing migrane I stick it out. Those assholes aren't getting a dime out of me.

Tabloid politics at its best :wtf:

Chimps - the bastard lot of them.

They even synthesise THC so I really don't get how that's any better than the plant. Yeh I know it's not lol. They just think anything in a pill is good for the masses. Why are pills so great? They take ages to dissolve, you have to swallow them and get them stuck in your throat. I don't get it at all.

In Aus, the prescription pill market (illegal) has gone up I think close to or above 400% !!!! So now they are thinking of putting harsher penalties on Doctors who prescribe it when it's not needed. It's all the Governments fault. Weed illegal. Kid raiding medicine cabinet looking for legal high: "awesome xanax, oxycontin, codeine I'm in heaven!". Faulty prescribing to kid trying to get high or to someone who didn't need such strong meds. Government: "Jail for you buddy! We'll throw in a few thousand dollar fine too, which will go straight to Pharma". Cancer patients suffer through the rest of their days because Doc's are too afraid to prescribe.

This can really only get worse. I don't even want to know what the next step will be.