David Cameron could be man to de-criminalise cannabis

David Cameron could be the man to de-criminalise cannabis as the most "drug-experienced" PM, a former government adviser has claimed.

 

Prof David Nutt insisted he was optimistic there would be changes in the British narcotic laws.

 

He commented: "UK politics itself has in recent years been a major block to rational debate.

 

"Perhaps this will change now David Cameron is Prime Minister as he is the most obviously drug-experienced person to have held this post, having been caught using cannabis as a schoolboy at Eton (for which he was not expelled)."

 

Prof Nutt, a former chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, told the academic journal Prometheus: "As an MP, he served on the science and technology committee and took a progressive view on drugs arguing that MDMA [ecstasy] was inappropriately positioned in class A.

 

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"Soon after he became the leader and repeated this view, and within hours was dragged before the party grandees and told that this was not the way to win power, so he publicly retracted this view.

 

"It will be interesting too see what line the Government takes on drugs in general and school expulsion for possession."

 

Prof Nutt, who now teaches at Imperial College London, said UK drug laws are "unscientific and unjust". The expert wants more action against alcohol and less tough action against ecstasy.

 

He even blamed an ecstasy crackdown with heavier prison sentences as a possible cause for more boozing, saying: "It could be argued that the rise of binge drinking in the 90s might have been driven by concerns over potential criminalisation for possession."

 

Prof Nutt was sacked by former Home Secretary Alan Johnson when he launched a campaign for the de-criminalisation of cannabis.

 

He added: "It is critical the Government takes the Lib Dem approach with an independent committee to assess drug harms. The statement by science minister David Willetts that he regrets the processes that lead to my sacking is a sign of a better approach."