Possession of cannabis soared throughout the lockdowns but has now fallen below pre-pandemic levels - as Home Secretary Suella Braverman considers making “weed” a Class A drug. Ms Braverman reportedly told allies she is on the “same side” as a group of Conservative police and crime commissioners (PCCs) who have called for the drug to be put on par with cocaine.
Upgrading cannabis from Class B would see the maximum penalties for possession increase from five years to seven years, while the maximum penalty for supply would rise from 14 years to a life sentence. The government is already consulting on tougher penalties that could see recreational drug users lose their passports and driving licences.
It comes as the latest Home Office figures show that crimes of possession of cannabis have fallen by 21% in England and Wales, to 106,814 crimes recorded in the year ending March 2022. Before the pandemic, in the year ending March 2020, police recorded 113,689 crimes of possession of cannabis in England and Wales.
The following year - after lockdown restrictions were introduced - that rocketed by 18% to 134,418 offences, before plummeting last year to 6% below the pre-pandemic figure. That is probably because police were more likely to stop people during the pandemic, for example on suspicion of breaching lockdown rules, and that may have led to officers finding cannabis on more people than during a normal year.
But data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that the pandemic did not disrupt the drug trade. In fact around 6% of adults aged between 18 and 59 smoked cannabis during the pandemic - the equivalent of around 1.8 million adults.
Police were most likely to find cannabis on people in Westminster. Last year there were 2,571 offences recorded in that area.
That equates to around 98 crimes for every 10,000 of the population. That was followed by Liverpool (74 per 10,000 residents) and Barking and Dagenham (66 per 10,000 residents).
Tory PCCs made the case for reclassifying cannabis at the party conference in Birmingham. In remarks cited by The Times and the BBC, David Sidwick, the Dorset PCC, said: “We’re seeing it because it’s a gateway drug.
“If you look at the young people in treatment, the number one drug they are in treatment for is cannabis.”
If cannabis was reclassified, that would be the third time the law has changed in the 21st century. Cannabis was downgraded from Class B to Class C in 2001, effectively decriminalising the drug. A 2005 Home Office report estimated that 199,000 police hours were saved as a result.
However, in 2007 the drug was made a Class B substance again, against the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. A Home Office source told PA that while Ms Braverman is “receptive” to the PCCs’ position, “we need to really understand what will be most effective means to improving enforcement”.
The source added that the Home Secretary’s position is that “effectively cannabis has been legalised by not being policed properly”. Home Office proposals published in July already set out tougher punishments for recreational users of cannabis and other drugs such as cocaine.
The three-tiered approach would see first-time offenders forced to pay to attend a drug awareness course or pay an increased fine or possibly face prosecution. For a second offence, drug users would be given a caution, sent on a further drug awareness course, and face a period of mandatory, random drug testing for up to three months.
Anyone caught with cannabis or other recreational drugs a third time would face prosecution. As part of their punishment, they could have their passports and driving licences confiscated on conviction. During the year ending March 2022, police in England and Wales recorded 106,814 offences of possession of cannabis, down by 21% from the previous year and 6% lower than the pre-pandemic year.
Some 16% of completed investigations resulted in someone being charged, down from 17% the previous year and 20% before the pandemic. But the most common outcome for anyone caught in possession of cannabis was an out-of-court punishment, such as an informal cannabis warning or a community resolution - with 54% dealt with in this way last year, and another 11% hit with a formal caution or a penalty notice.
Separate court figures show that 13,053 people were convicted of possession of cannabis in 2021 - including 185 who received sentences of immediate custody - up from 12,268 in 2020, but down from 14,043 in 2019. But while Britain appears to be heading in one direction with regard to cannabis laws, many other countries are moving in the opposite direction.
Nations including Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Georgia, and some American states have legalised recreational use. Germany is currently in the process of changing the law to allow the controlled distribution of cannabis among adults. U.S. President Joe Biden has now announced a blanket federal pardon for Americans convicted of possessing small amounts of the drug.
One of the first acts of Liz Truss’s government was to refuse formal permission to allow Bermuda to enact a law to legalise and regulate cannabis - although Bermuda has announced its intention to press ahead with the law change regardless. Meanwhile, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched the London Drugs Commission earlier this year, to examine the effectiveness of drug laws on cannabis.
Mr Khan first announced the review while he was in Los Angeles, on a visit to see firsthand the impact on the city since it legalised cannabis in 2016. A spokesperson for the Mayor said at the time: “We know that we’ll never be able to simply arrest our way out of the problem, which is why we continue to work on schemes that provide young people with support and education, rather than simply putting them through the criminal justice system – with the aim of diverting them away from drug use and crime for good.”
Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that more than a third of adults aged between 18 and 59 (37%) have smoked cannabis at some point in their lives - the equivalent of about 12 million people.
Supporters of legalisation claim cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and that it would take the trade out of the hands of criminal gangs, free up police time, and create a new and lucrative source of tax for the government. However, opponents point to the detrimental impact of the drug - particularly on mental health - and believe legalisation would not break up drug gangs but would cause more people to become dependent on cannabis, and possibly lead them to harder drugs.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Cannabis is a controlled drug on the basis of clear medical and scientific evidence of its harms. It is currently a Class B drug but its classification is subject to review.”
