The British Medical Journal has published an editorial that proposes that cannabis should be sold legally within shops.  This is based on the fact that banning the substance has lead to increased drug crime.

The author, Professor Robin Room of Melbourne University  says “In some places, state controlled instruments - such as licensing regimes, inspectors, and sales outlets run by the Government - are still in place for alcohol and these could be extended to cover cannabis.”

Drug campaigners in the UK disagree.  They have responded by saying ”The message received by children were it to be legalised would be that it can’t be too bad or the Government wouldn’t have done this.”

One of Britain’s leading experts on cannabis, Aberdeen based Roger Pertwee has proposed a “cannabis license“ be put in place.  Professor Pertwee who is a professor of Neuropharmacology at the University of Aberdeen has called on the government to consider setting up of a committee to license the sale of recreational cannabis.  He believes that by “making cannabis as available as alcohol would prevent drug-related crime, it would reduce the chances of people being introduced to harder narcotics.”  In addition, Tim Hollis, chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ drugs committees was recently quoted as saying “We would rather invest our time in getting high-level criminals before the courts, taking money off them and removing their illicit gains rather than targeting young people.”

 The Home office has responded by saying “There is clear evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can cause damage to mental health in the immediate and longer-term. Even occasional use of cannabis can be dangerous for people with diseases of the circulatory system. The Government does not believe decriminalisation of cannabis is the right approach. Our priorities are clear - we want to reduce drug use, crack down on drug-related crime and disorder and help addicts come off drugs for good.”

It was revealed last week that Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems party had plans to push for the legalisation of cannabis cafes.  The leaked policy document makes it “no longer a crime for the occupier or manager of premises to permit someone to use cannabis on those premises”.

SAMHSA reports in its latest review, “Illicit Drug Use Among Older Adults,” that 1) approximately 5 adults in 100 aged 50 or older used either cannabis or an illicit drug in the past year; 2) among the surveyed population the incidence of cannabis use is higher than that of illicit prescription drug use between the ages of 50 and 59; and 3) those above the age of 65, the use of illicit prescription drugs is greater than the use of cannabis.