Liz Truss has rejected making cannabis a Class A drug, despite claims her Home Secretary could do so.
Downing Street today said there are “no plans to change the law” after reports Suella Braverman was considering the idea.
Moving cannabis from Class B to Class A would raise the maximum jail term from five to seven years for possession, and from 14 years to life for supply and production.
It would put cannabis on the same legal footing as cocaine, ecstasy and heroin.
A source on Sunday said hardliner Ms Braverman was “receptive” to police commissioners who called for the change during Tory conference.
But today the PM’s spokesman slapped down the idea, saying: “There are no plans to change the laws around cannabis.
“Our priorities are cracking down on illegal drugs and the crime they drive.
“We've launched a drug strategy backed by record investment to deliver a whole system approach to tackling supply and demand.”
According to the Sunday Times, the Home Secretary told allies she was on the “same side” as the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC).
A source close to her said “we’ve got to scare people” and she was strongly against decriminalising cannabis, like in some US states and Portugal.
But speaking to the PA news agency, a source later insisted it was a “very big stretch of the imagination” to claim Ms Braverman wanted to change the law herself.
They added: “Her position on this is that effectively cannabis has been legalised by not being policed properly. We need to focus attention on changing that."
A debate has run for years over whether cannabis should be decriminalised in the UK, where critics claim a “war on drugs” has not stopped a cycle of crime.
London mayor Sadiq Khan set up a new body to look at whether cannabis should be decriminalised - the London Drugs Commission - earlier this year.
While he does not have any power to decriminalise drugs, and has not pledged to do so, Mr Khan said public figures must “reduce the huge damage that illegal drugs cause to our communities.”
Labour peer Lord Falconer, the new head of the Commission, said: “A national debate is long overdue.”
But Labour leader Keir Starmer has said in the past: “I'm not in favour of us changing the law or decriminalisation. I'm very clear about that."
