Cannabis Classification and Public Health
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, "Cannabis Classification and Public Health (2008)," (London: Home Office, May, 2008)
Unlike the U.S., the British government maintains an independent group of scientific experts to advise it on drug policy, called the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. In 2007, this group was asked to review yet again (for the third time in six years) the status of marijuana under British law, and whether reimposition of harsher penalties might be advisable. Yet again, the experts found no reason for doing so, noting that use had declined since the reclassification of marijuana that ended most possession arrests in 2004. This time, though, their advice was disregarded by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (See also, “The Classification of Cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971,” and “Further Consideration of the Classification of Cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.”)
