Is a Way Being Paved for Legalised Recreational Drug Use in the UK?
- slingshotmagazine
- Mar 7, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 11, 2019
by Torbjørn Jørstad
Last November, UK doctors could begin prescribing cannabis for medical use for the first time. The move came following the high-profile cases of Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell, both suffering from epilepsy and finding medical cannabis to be a source of relief. After being advised by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, home secretary Sajid Javid moved to legalise the substance for medical use, recognising its therapeutic benefits.
The move was hailed by some as a progressive step in the direction of countries like the US and Canada, where the focus has shifted to the legalisation of recreational use. But is the UK really taking a step in the same direction? The home secretary explicitly stated recreational legalisation is not being considered, although others suggest it is inevitable.
“Provision of medical cannabis is so limited at the moment because the regulations are too strict. Our medical framework is very different from that in the US and there probably won't be a natural progression from medical to recreational legalisation,” says Danny Kushlick, head of external affairs at drug policy think tank Transform.
He believes there is high support for more liberal drug laws among the public, but little to no willingness to act among senior policy makers.
“It will take a fundamental change from one of the major parties to bring in reform,” he says.
Professor Michael Barnes, a leading expert on medical cannabis and a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, says conflating medical and recreational cannabis is unhelpful.
“One is a medical and humanitarian issue whilst the other is a political and social issue,” he says.
Barnes is also critical of reports saying legalisation will lead to more drug addiction, as a recent study by the Centre for Social Justice suggests.
“There is no evidence that legalising cannabis for medical use leads to any increase in recreational use. Dependency occurs in cannabis use (about 9%) but that is mainly in high THC street cannabis and 100,000 new addicts from medical cannabis is pure fiction. Legalising medical cannabis provides a huge benefit for people who are currently criminalised for using the medicine.”
He also believes there is growing public support for further drug legalisation and suggests moves towards a Canada-model (complete legalisation) will be made in the UK within 3-5 years.
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