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London Mayor Supports Commission’s Recommendation To Decriminalize Cannabis

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Policy.

In 2022, London Mayor Sadiq Khan established the independent London Drugs Commission (LDC), tasking the Commission with examining cannabis policies in England’s capital city and other jurisdictions. The commission recently published its findings and recommended that personal cannabis possession be decriminalized, a recommendation that Mayor Khan reportedly supports.

“The report follows detailed analysis of written and oral evidence from over 200 experts and academics from London, the UK and around the world. Lord Falconer and his Deputies were assisted by leading experts from criminal justice, public health, community relations and drug policy and supported by academics from University College London (UCL).” The London Drugs Commission stated about its methodology.

“Inclusion of cannabis as a Class B drug in the Misuse of Drugs Act is disproportionate to the harms it can pose relative to other drugs controlled by the Act. The sentencing options currently available, especially for personal possession, cannot be justified when balanced against the longer-term impacts of experience of the justice system, including stop and search, or of serving a criminal sentence can have on a person.” The Commission stated about its report.

“Sir Sadiq Khan said current rules “cannot be justified”, adding that the commission’s findings had provided “a compelling, evidence-based case” for decriminalisation.” reported BBC in its local coverage.

The outlet also pointed out that the Commission recommended supporting “fair access to medical cannabis, including addressing cost barriers and expanding research.” The cannabis policy modernization recommendations are not supported by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who stated that cannabis reform is “a matter for parliament” and his officers would “keep working to our current law.”

Adult-use cannabis legalization in the United Kingdom could generate as much as £1.5 billion in revenue and savings, according to a previous report by the advocacy group Transform Drug Policy Foundation.

The report, which was posted on the organization’s social media account back in March, determined that over £1.2 billion would be generated from taxes and fees annually, and an additional £284 million would be saved annually by the nation’s criminal justice system no longer enforcing cannabis prohibition policies.

“There would be costs incurred for Govt by regulatory infrastructure – inspection, monitoring, compliance, trading standards etc – but largely covered by licensing/other fees.” the organization stated on social media.

Transform Drug Policy Foundation also determined that “up to 15,500 full-time jobs could be created in cultivation, manufacturing, retail & related services, (depending on the model implemented).”

The report also found that “a regulated market could displace 80% of the illegal trade in five years (based on trends in Canada).” The organization’s proposed legalization model involves permitting home cultivation, cultivation associations, and a government retail monopoly.

A separate analysis published last year by UK-based advocacy group CLEAR determined that legalizing cannabis for adult use in the United Kingdom and taxing and regulating sales could generate as much as £9.5 billion per year based on their proposed model.

According to a poll conducted by YouGov UK, the level of support for cannabis legalization among adults in the United Kingdom is greater than the level of support for adult-use legalization among lawmakers.

“The results show that 50% of MPs are opposed to cannabis legalisation when asked in a support/oppose format, compared to 39% who would be in support.” YouGov UK stated about their poll’s results. “The large majority of MPs do, however, believe that doctors should be allowed to prescribe cannabis for medical use (83%). Only 7% are opposed.”

“On the binary question of legalising cannabis, the British public are split, with 45% in favour and 42% opposed, making the public slightly more pro-legalisation than MPs.” YouGov UK also stated about the poll results.

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Ancient Roman Artifact Suspected Of Containing Cannabis Seeds

Written by Frank Schuler on . Posted in Science.

Humans have a long history with the cannabis plant going back thousands of years. For example, a study from 2023 found that “ancestral archaeological relics date the use of this plant fiber as a fabric to approximately 8000 years before the common era (BCE) as a material in ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iran and Iraq), and to 4000 years BCE and 3000 years BCE as a material for ropes in China and Kazakhstan, respectively.”

A more recent example can be found at an excavation site in northeastern England. An excavation was being performed near an energy-generating facility between Saltholme Nature Reserve and the village of Cowpen Bewley in the district of Stockton-on-Tees, and archeologists discovered an artifact dating back to the Roman empire.

Britain’s Roman period lasted from A.D. 43 to A.D. 410. During that time, modern-day Britain was then the Roman province of Britannia and Britannia was part of the larger Roman empire that stretched across Europe and every corner of the Mediterranean region.

A Roman pot suspected of containing cannabis seeds was previously found in northeastern England and recently identified as possibly containing cannabis seeds. Per Yahoo News UK:

Two human burials had already been found – with teams prepared for even more or the possibility of a cemetery. But then came the discovery of a small Roman pot containing mystery burnt seeds. The beaker was immediatel. y sent to a laboratory for testing – and teams are now waiting to find out if the seeds could be positively identified as hemp.

It is thought that if the seeds found in the small jar at Saltholme are confirmed to be cannabis, then they might have been heated and the smoke inhaled, possibly as part of a Roman funeral ritual.

Cannabis use was common among humans 2,000 years ago, with the cultures surrounding the ancient Greeks and Romans using psychoactive cannabis in their medicine, religions, and recreational activities. Cannabis in many forms was traded throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

The recent discovery in England serves as another reminder of the long history between humans and the cannabis plant. The cannabis plant is arguably the most versatile plant on earth, and it should have never been prohibited in the first place. Thankfully, many nations are modernizing their cannabis policies to permit humans to make legal use of the cannabis plant.

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London Mayor Launches Commission To Examine Cannabis Policy

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Archives, Policy.

Cannabis reform is sweeping the European continent, with at least one country now a legal jurisdiction for adult use. Late last year Malta became the first country in Europe to pass an adult-use legalization measure.

Italy was on track to possibly legalize cannabis this year after activists gathered and submitted over 630,000 signatures in an attempt to put legalization in front of voters. Unfortunately, even though the effort proved to have gathered enough valid signatures Italy’s government stopped the effort in its tracks, claiming that it was unconstitutional to let it proceed.

Cannabis legalization pilot programs are starting to spread across Europe. Copenhagen already has a program underway and the pilot program is set to expand across Denmark as more jurisdictions sign up. Switzerland is launching its first pilot program site in Basel this summer, and hopefully by 2023, the Netherlands will do the same.

Germany’s governing coalition previously announced plans to legalize cannabis in the near future, and last week Germany’s Health Minister announced that the timeline for legalization would be sped up with legalization possibly coming as soon as this summer.

In the midst of all of the momentum for cannabis reform on the continent one country that has moved almost as slow as any other nation is the United Kingdom. The UK’s medical cannabis program is extremely limited and has only helped a minor fraction of the number of suffering patients that exist in the UK. Recreational cannabis possession and use remain prohibited.

London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced this week that a commission will be launched to explore, among other things, cannabis policy reform. Per The Guardian:

Sadiq Khan has announced a commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on those governing cannabis.

The London drugs commission, to be chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer QC, a former lord chancellor and justice secretary, was one of Khan’s manifesto pledges in his re-election bid last year.

The mayor of London’s office said a panel of independent experts in criminal justice, public health, politics, community relations and academia will be assembled to consider evidence from around the world on the outcomes of various drug policies.

The announcement was made while Khan was in Los Angeles where he toured a cannabis cultivation facility. The announcement of the commission yielded swift pushback from the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Priti Patel. Per The Times:

The home secretary has criticised the mayor of London after he set up a commission to consider the decriminalisation of cannabis.

Priti Patel told Sadiq Kahn that he “has no powers to legalise drugs”.

“Sadiq Khan’s time would be better spent focusing on knife and drug crime in London. The mayor has no powers to legalise drugs. They ruin communities, tear apart families and destroy lives,” Patel said in a tweet.

For starters, the War on Drugs ruins communities, tears apart families, and destroys lives. That is a fact. It is also a fact that the War on Drugs has failed, both in the United Kingdom and beyond. Patel’s tweet obviously disregards those facts.

Secondly, as I understand it, what Khan has proposed is essentially a fact-finding commission, not a commission that will actually seek to change policies. I suppose that it could evolve to a point where that is being pursued, however, that does not appear to be the case right now.

What does appear to be the case, at least in my opinion, is that Patel and other like-minded officials are probably scared of what the commission will potentially find and publish. It’s much easier for Patel and others to peddle reefer madness rhetoric without the existence of a commission like the one that Khan is launching.