The first-ever London Drugs Commission is considering legal cannabis

Of Nina Zdinjak

A few months after London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to end the prosecution of teenagers and young adults caught using cannabis, he set up a commission tasked with decriminalizing cannabis in the UK. The first-ever London Drugs Commission will be chaired by ex-Justice Secretary Lord Charlie Falconer QC, the BBC has reported.

While the mayor was impressed after visiting a cannabis dispensary in California, Home Secretary Priti Patel said Khan’s efforts were futile as he “has no power to legalize drugs. They ruin communities, tear families apart and destroy lives.”

Photo by 2H Media via Unsplash

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Khan replied: “We need to have an honest, open conversation about the evidence surrounding the history of cannabis and our laws in the UK and our experience of the health consequences in terms of crime and community. The best way to do that is with the drug commission that we have set up now.”

“You can hear from the experts, that’s one thing, but seeing it for yourself… hearing from those who grow and grow this plant has been fascinating.”

Once the commission has done all it can research, it will make its recommendations to City Hall, the government, the police, the criminal justice system and public health services. In the event of policy changes, University College London would provide an impact analysis of the proposed changes.

Although medical cannabis was legalized in England in 2018, marijuana remains classified as a Class B drug, with possession carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Cannabis possession was the most common drug offense recorded in England and Wales in 2021, according to a Parliament report.

Khan’s party says not your job

Britain’s Labor Party has said it does not support Khan’s initiative to amend the drug law. “Drugs policy is not vested in mayors and under Labor would continue to be set by national government,” the party said.

On the other hand, Steve Rolles of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation told BBC Radio London that it would be good if the UK could look to Mexico and Uruguay and other countries that have decriminalized marijuana and learn from them.

“As the mayor has made clear, our cannabis policy is not working. It doesn’t put off youngsters and we can always smell it on them. It criminalizes a lot of people – especially young black men – and it costs the criminal system a lot of money,” Rolles said.

“We have to look at that. Other places around the world have decriminalized it and hopefully we can learn from those experiences.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.