A group of Tory police commissioners have sparked a backlash after calling for cannabis to be reclassified from a Class B to Class A drug. The move would put the drug in the same category as heroin and cocaine.
Arfon Jones, former Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for North Wales, branded the idea "draconian". And drug experts warned against a "ramping up" of the "punitive prohibitions that have so spectacularly failed for over 50 years".
During the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, some PCCS presented an argument for reclassification which would mean tougher penalties for cannabis offences. The PCCs included Dorset's David Sidwick, Devon and Cornwall's Alison Hernandez, and Avon and Somerset's Mark Shelford.
