Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: What class of drug is Cannabis?
Early in January 2006 Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said that on the basis of advice from the Advisory Council, a decision was made not to return cannabis to class B.[6] However, during Prime Minister's Questions on 18 July 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, was reviewing again whether to return cannabis to class B status.[7][8] On 7 May 2008, Smith confirmed that cannabis in the UK would again be classified as a class B drug, despite the Advisory Council's recommendation.[9] On 26 January 2009, cannabis was reclassified as a class B drug.[10] The reclassification of cannabis to a class B drug had been hinted at as early as 2005 by allies of Gordon Brown, on the election night in 2005, Ed Balls stated that cannabis and the war in Iraq were mistakes that the Labour party had to learn from.[11]
Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom refers to the class of drugs, as determined by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, that cannabis is placed in. Between 1928 and 2004 and since 2009, it has been classified as a class B drug. From 2004 to 2009, it was in class C. From 2017 till now it is in class B and is illegal in many places.
Under New Zealand's Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, cannabis is currently classed (depending on product / substance) as either a Class B drug ("Very high risk of harm") or a Class C drug ("moderate risk of harm").
Cannabis in the United Kingdom Drugs controlled by the UK Misuse of Drugs Act Drug liberalisation Drug policy reform Effects of cannabis Legal and medical status of cannabis Legal issues of cannabis Legality of cannabis by country List of British politicians who admit to cannabis use Medical cannabis Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs Wootton Report
Cannabis has remained a Class B drug since the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, except for a period from 2004 to 2009 during which it was classified as Class C. The 2004 reclassification (originally announced in 2001) removed the threat of arrest for possession of small amounts, for the purpose of allowing police to focus on harder drugs and violent crime. In May 2008, under the leadership of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it was announced that cannabis would be moved back to Schedule B, against the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
The issue of the mismatch between lawmakers' classification of recreational drugs, in particular that of cannabis, and scientific measures of their harmfulness surfaced again in October 2009, after the publication of a pamphlet containing a lecture Nutt had given to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London in July 2009. In this, Nutt repeated his view that illicit drugs should be classified according to the actual evidence of the harm they cause, and presented an analysis in which nine 'parameters of harm' (grouped as 'physical harm', 'dependence', and 'social harms') revealed that alcohol or tobacco were more harmful than LSD, ecstasy or cannabis. In this ranking, alcohol came fifth behind heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and methadone, and tobacco ranked ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, he said. In this classification, alcohol and tobacco appeared as Class B drugs, and cannabis was placed at the top of Class C. Nutt also argued that taking cannabis created only a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness, and that "the obscenity of hunting down low-level cannabis users to protect them is beyond absurd". Nutt objected to the recent re-upgrading (after 5 years) of cannabis from a Class C drug back to a Class B drug (and thus again on a par with amphetamines), considering it politically motivated rather than scientifically justified. In October 2009 Nutt had a public disagreement with psychiatrist Robin Murray in the pages of "The Guardian" about the dangers of cannabis in triggering psychosis.
NIDA administers a contract with the University of Mississippi to grow the nation's only legal cannabis crop for medical and research purposes, including the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program. A "Fast Company" article pointed out, "Based on the photographic evidence, NIDA's concoction of seeds, stems, and leaves more closely resembles dried cat brier than cannabis".
An article in "Mother Jones" describes their crop as "brown, stems-and-seeds-laden, low-potency pot—what's known on the streets as "schwag""aka "Bobby Brown" United States federal law currently registers cannabis as a Schedule I drug. Medical marijuana researchers typically prefer to use high-potency marijuana, but NIDA's National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse has been reluctant to provide cannabis with high THC levels, citing safety concerns:
The gangs that grow and traffic the drugs are likened to those that appeared in major US cities during Prohibition, with the intention of profiting from the sale of illegal alcohol. The film answers many questions about cannabis, including the purported health effects of cannabis use, the gateway drug theory, and what could happen if cannabis was legalized. The film also discusses the medicinal value of the cannabis plant and what the pharmaceutical industry stands to lose from cannabis legalization.
Huhne was an avid supporter of Professor David Nutt after he was dismissed by Home Secretary Alan Johnson as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in November 2009. Nutt had criticised the government's decision to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug rather than keeping it as a class C. Huhne said the decision to sack Nutt was "disgraceful" and commented: "what is the point of having independent scientific advice if as soon as you get some advice that you don't like, you sack the person who has given it to you?". Attacking the government, he said that if they did not want to take expert scientific advice they might as well have a "committee of tabloid newspaper editors to advise on drugs policy". Cannabis had been re-classified as a class C drug in 2004 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett, only for Jacqui Smith to reverse the ruling in 2008, a decision taken despite official advisers recommending against it.
The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Act amends the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 to:
This Act intends to improve access to both medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products of a quality standard. Cannabis compounds that are still classified as controlled drugs are tetrahydrocannabinols and related psychoactive substances.
Some academics also believe that indigenous Mexicans adopted psychoactive cannabis as the drug "Pipiltzintzintli" for ritual purposes and divination. By 1898, cannabis use was prevalent in Mexico. The drug was commonly used for recreational purposes and as a folk remedy to treat pain—particularly among military personnel and the lower class.
In June 2006, Costa criticised the decision on the part of the UK government to downgrade cannabis from a Class B drug to Class C. This policy decision was later reversed by the UK parliament which requested that Cannabis be scheduled to Class B within the UK Misuse of Drugs Act. Cost has underlined in his writing that the confusion surrounding the classification of cannabis may have had a negative impact on young people within the UK who may well have been confused themselves as to the legal position of the drug. He has emphasised to that the lack of leadership from governments in how they are tackling their drug problem can have a negative impact on the nature of the drug problem within those countries. In light of the obligations of signatories to the global drug control conventions he went further and stated that "it is fundamentally wrong for countries to make cannabis control dependent on which party is in government." After a brief period of declassification, Britain later reversed its policies and upgraded cannabis to a Class B drug again in 2009. In 2010 Antonio Maria Costa was awarded the Nils Bejerot prize in recognition of his international contribution to drugs policy and practice. This award is named after the person who many regard as the architect of the Swedish government's zero tolerance policy on drugs misuse.
In response to the UK government's official drugs advisory body's opposition to cannabis reclassification (upwards, from a class C to a class B drug) in 2008, prime minister Gordon Brown said: "I believe that if we're sending out a signal, particularly to teenagers – and particular those at the most vulnerable age, young teenagers – that in any way we find cannabis acceptable, given all we know about the way that cannabis is being sold in this country, that is not the right thing to do. There's a stronger case now for sending out a signal that cannabis is not only illegal, it's unacceptable."
Cannabis in the United Kingdom is illegal for recreational use as a Class B drug. In 2004 cannabis was made a Class C drug with less severe penalties but it was moved back to Class B in 2009. Medical use of cannabis was legalised in November 2018.
In January 2004, cannabis prohibition in the UK was relaxed. Cannabis had been a class B substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It became a class C substance, and many people saw this change as virtual 'decriminalisation'. It was a long way short of full legalisation. It has recently returned to a class B substance.
As of January 2009, "cannabis, cannabis resin, cannabinol and its derivatives" are categorized as Class B drugs, in accordance with "(Amendment) Order 2008" of the United Kingdom's Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Following a proposal by UK politician David Blunkett "to seek the reclassification of cannabis from a Class B drug to a Class C drug" in 2001, the classification was moved to the less stringent Class C in January 2004, but was returned to Class B in January 2009.
Amongst its recent campaigns Rethink has urged the government to look at the mental health risks of cannabis, rather than "fiddle with its legal status". Cannabis was downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug in 2004, making most cases of possession non-arrestable. However, Rethink wants government support for new research into the relationship between severe mental illness and cannabis. They have publicly stated, in response to George Michael's advocacy of the drug, that cannabis is the drug "most likely to cause mental illness".
The book is intended as a rebuttal of what Hitchens sees as the widespread acceptance of drug use and the weakening of drug prohibition in Britain since the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, when a Conservative government adopted a Labour Party policy to implement the Wootton Report. Hitchens believes that there is de facto decriminalisation of drugs in the UK, especially of cannabis, contrary to claims of drug "prohibition" from "Big Dope" (name he gives to the cannabis legalisation lobby). Hitchens contends that it is only through much harsher and more stringent punishment – for both consumers and dealers of drugs – that any war on drugs can be successful.
With the passage of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, cannabis was listed as a "Class B" drug. It remained Class B, except for the 2004–2009 period where it was classified as Class C, a lower punishment category, before being moved back to B.
After revisions to cannabis scheduling in the UK, the government moved cannabis back from a class C to a class B drug. A purported reason was the appearance of high potency cannabis. They believe skunk accounts for between 70 and 80% of samples seized by police (despite the fact that skunk can sometimes be incorrectly mistaken for all types of herbal cannabis). Extracts such as hashish and hash oil typically contain more THC than high potency cannabis flowers.
The SSP has proposed the legalisation of cannabis and the licensing of premises to sell cannabis as a means of breaking the link between soft drugs and potentially lethal drugs such as heroin. It has also proposed the provision of synthetic heroin on NHS Scotland under medical supervision in order to undermine the black market for drugs and combat the social and health problems caused by illegal drug use in working-class communities, as well as calling for the expansion of residential rehabilitation and detoxification facilities for addicts seeking treatment.
Cannabis use is controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. Possession of any amount of cannabis is illegal. The maximum penalty for possession of cannabis is imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or a $500 fine, although section 7(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 contains a rebuttable presumption against imprisonment in respect of possession offences in respect of class C controlled drugs, which include cannabis. Cultivation of cannabis carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment. Selling cannabis, offering to sell or supplying cannabis to a person under the age of 18 years carries a maximum penalty of eight years' imprisonment. Cannabis oil and hashish are defined as class B drugs, and those convicted of manufacturing or supplying face a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment. Possession of a class-B controlled drug carries a maximum sentence of up to three months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding $500.
The only places individuals can really smoke cannabis is within "coffeeshops". In these coffeeshops, they sell cannabis, which is considered to be soft drugs in comparison to hard drugs; drugs such as heroin. The purpose of these coffee shops are to help people who use soft drugs such as cannabis, to avoid contact with hard drugs, such as heroine. The legal age to get into these coffeeshops is 18 years old. While cannabis can be sold legally through coffeeshops, trafficking the drug is illegal under Dutch law, which means that the coffeeshops have to obtain their cannabis secretly and illegally.
In January 2004, cannabis prohibition in the UK was relaxed. Cannabis had been a "class B" substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, but became a Class C substance, and some saw this change as approaching decriminalisation.
Classification of cannabis has become especially controversial. In 2004, cannabis was reclassified from class B to class C, in accordance with advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). In 2009, it was returned to class B, against ACMD advice.