Will London Really Decriminalize Cannabis?

When London Mayor Sadiq Khan began to feel the heat of his re-election campaign last spring, he realized that he needed to be different from conservative challenger Shaun Bailey. So Khan announced that if re-elected he would look into the benefits of decriminalizing cannabis.

May 2021, Khan defeated Bailey with ease to win a second term.

Nine months later, it was revealed that the second-term mayor, a high-profile Labor politician, is planning to get young people caught with small amounts of marijuana in parts of London out of the criminal justice system and into road traffic classes and counseling.

A leaked report on Tuesday covered the news cycle in the UK; The Telegraph headlined a story claiming that Khan’s plan would effectively decriminalize cannabis in London.

Sadiq Khan is set to start decriminalizing drugs in London and plans to end prosecution of young people caught using cannabis, The Telegraph has learned https://t.co/4zExfMn2mf

– The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 3, 2022

Khan’s team tried to clarify the mayor’s intentions. The plan, they said, was to introduce a three-district limited testing program for 18- to 24-year-olds. Such a program still has to be approved by the town hall and would be “robustly evaluated” before a capital-wide introduction.

According to the initial outlines of the proposal, the teaching and counseling outcomes would be offered to those caught with less than 14 grams of cannabis (roughly half an ounce). It could be implemented as early as May 2022 in the southeastern London boroughs of Lewisham, Bexley and Greenwich, which are home to some of the capital’s poorest neighborhoods.

“Reducing crime is a top priority for the Mayor and he will continue to research and implement the most effective solutions to finally distract young people from drug use and crime,” a spokesman for the London Mayor said, adding that Khan did not do so Have power to decriminalize.

They added that the plan, launched by Lewisham Mayor Damien Egan, who commissioned a report from the nonprofit drug reform organization Volteface, would provide help and support rather than punishment and has been shown to reduce relapses. Egan’s spokesman told the local media, “We know we can never stop and go to solve the problem.”

What exactly is the problem?

However, many people in the UK do not believe that cannabis use is a serious problem. “Cannabis is seriously misunderstood in the UK and this scheme does nothing and only delays the inevitable legalization process,” Marwan Elgamal, founder of THC, a leading cannabis lifestyle brand, told the events at the April 20th annual celebrations. organized in London’s Hyde Park, which was attended by tens of thousands.

“The UK has the opportunity to put in place a cannabis potency labeling process to help adults make informed decisions, take billions off criminals and stop peoples’ life chances, while freeing up police resources ” added Elgamal. “Now is the time for our government to trust adults to make their own decisions instead of condescendingly offering us advice.”

Related

How close is the UK to legalizing cannabis?

Often consumed but still illegal

Cannabis is widely smoked on the streets of London and is easily available in parts of Camden, Hackney, Notting Hill and elsewhere. Its consumption is so common that it can sometimes happen that the plant is legal. In fact, more and more clandestine cannabis clubs have emerged in recent years. But regular police searches of suspected cannabis possession can quickly deliver a dose of reality, even as the number of registered cannabis offenses in London declines year on year.

In September 2020, the Independent Office for Police Conduct informed the Metropolitan Police, which covers London, that it is failing to stop and search people because there is allegedly cannabis smell in the area. However, the rationale is still used, leading to skepticism as to whether the Met would enthusiastically adopt a bypass scheme.

Young blacks targeted by the police

Almost half of all stop-and-search episodes in England and Wales are conducted by the Met, with London young blacks being stopped 19 times more often than the rest of the population. A recent report by the Police Inspectorate found that nothing was found at four out of five stops and the practice adds significantly to tension between ethnic minorities and the police.

“Young black men the authors spoke to feel targeted, leading to disenfranchisement and distrust of the police,” said the report, which was tasked with investigating the negative effects of low-level drug offenses. “Getting young black men through the criminal justice system does not address the root causes of why someone might be in possession of drugs, and a criminal justice footprint could hurt future prospects and potentially lead to a cycle of crime.”

It recommended piloting a rerouting scheme, variations of which are already used by 10 police agencies in the UK and which de facto decriminalize certain crimes in the absence of any change in the law.

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Unnecessary obsession cases are still being pursued

According to Volteface, Lewisham saw more than 1,800 criminal cases against juveniles for cannabis possession between 2016 and 2020. About 90% of these were intended for cannabis possession.

Ant Lehane, chief communications officer at Volteface, said Khan announced the drug commission when main antagonist Shaun Bailey, a law and order candidate, tried to sneak into polls ahead of next month’s election in April 2021, which Khan won in a runoff election .

“He couldn’t keep any of the promises,” Lehane said of Mayor Khan. “He had no idea what he was going to do. We came up to him with this diversion project that needed money, and behind the scenes he bit our arms off for it. It will tackle the racial disproportionate that any Labor mayorship should underpin. ”

“It was really bureaucratic and difficult to get to that stage,” added Lehane. This week’s Telegraph story “seems to have come out as we were nearing completion. So there’s a lot of frustration there. ”Lehane said he remains optimistic. “We don’t think it’ll ruin the report,” he said. “The response was really good and led to good discussions.”

Mayor Khan’s proposal “a brave step”

StopWatch, committed to fair and effective policing, welcomed the mayor’s efforts to remove the issue of low-level drug possession from police scrutiny, but said that “police sanctions” still have a wide scope as the law Individual officers leave much room for discretion.

Mayor Khan’s pilot “represents a bold move politically as it portrays the Mayor of London as a figure ready to face the headwinds of the two major parties of the time that lack the political will to respond to the evidence . “Said Habib Kadiri, Research and Policy Manager at StopWatch.

Kadiri said cannabis users remained at risk of criminalization – more than 80,000 people were jailed across England and Wales for possession of a class B or C drug between 2016 and 2020, according to the Department of Justice. The UK has maintained a very tight framework for legal access to medical marijuana since 2019.

Majority of Londoners support reform

Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said the pilot, which will be officially announced later this month, is long overdue. A majority of Londoners, Rolles said, have supported cannabis reforms for several years.

“The reforms are anything but revolutionary,” he said. “Ten law enforcement agencies across the UK already have similar diversion programs that cover virtually all drugs, not just cannabis, so this is just one step on a longer path to reform. We are obviously a bit far from legalization and regulation. “

National politicians will not stand up for their own policies

Rolles said the hostile response from the national Conservative government and the Labor opposition was confusing. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said illegal drugs “destroy lives and fuel violence” while Labor leader Keir Starmer said the party does not advocate further decriminalization of drugs.

“Both have previously sponsored diversion programs, most obviously in the government’s new drug strategy,” added Rolles. “Anything portrayed as decriminalization seems to be reflexively pushed back, even if it’s actually just another word for politics that they have already advocated. Khan shows that reforms are no longer a burden, but have become a political advantage. ”

Police leaders are still resisting any change

Growing opposition to the low-level drug prosecution carousel within the police force has led senior officials in the UK to increasingly agitate for more change, but the leadership of the London Metropolitan Police is notoriously conservative.

A Met spokesperson told Leafly, “The Met is committed to working with its partners to find ways to reduce the harm drugs cause both individuals and communities. At this point in time, however, contrary to media coverage, no agreement has been reached on changes to our enforcement approach for cannabis or other class B drugs. “

Mattha Busby

Mattha Busby is a freelance writer based in Mexico. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Observer, Vice, GQ, and other publications.

View article by Mattha Busby

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