Hashishi

Jack Straw backs cannabis classification review
9-25-`07 | 24Dash.com | by Jon Land

Justice Secretary Jack Straw today gave a further strong hint that the Government will reverse Tony Blair's downgrading of cannabis, by revealing he had opposed the light-touch approach from the start.

A review of the decision to re-categorise cannabis from class B to the less serious class C is currently under way, after being commissioned by Gordon Brown in one of his first acts as Prime Minister.

The reclassification announced by former Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2001 came into effect in 2004 and meant users no longer faced arrest for carrying small amounts of the drug.

Following criticism of the decision and claims that new stronger strains of cannabis were causing a health threat, Mr Blair ordered a review of the law, which in 2006 rejected the argument for a return to class B status.

But within weeks of entering 10 Downing Street, Mr Brown announced in July that the new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was again reviewing the issue. He has made little secret of his desire to see cannabis returned to class B.

Mr Straw today told Channel 4 News: "I was always against, let me say - I can disclose this now - reducing the categorisation of cannabis from B to C. I thought that was an error.

"I'm glad to know that we're now looking again at that."

He added: "I don't think decriminalisation would work. I'm happy to have a debate about that but I'm absolutely clear - what we know about cannabis now more than we did even five and 10 years ago is the way it could lead to very serious exacerbation of mental health problems. So (there is) not a case for that."

Meanwhile, police have discovered a huge cannabis factory after a raid on a restaurant in Cheltenham.

Officers swooped on a restaurant in Lower High Street and found the drug being cultivated on an industrial scale in a converted basement.

About 800 plants, potentially worth up to £100,000, were seized. A significant quantity of hydroponics equipment was also confiscated by police.

A 31-year-old Cheltenham woman was arrested at the scene on suspicion of cultivating an illegal drug. A man was also arrested by South Wales Police in connection with the raid.

Detective Sergeant Mark Pettit, who led the raid, said: "What we discovered was essentially a cannabis factory. It was on a very large scale and certainly the biggest enterprise of its kind that has been discovered in the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury division to date.

"Certainly a very large quantity of an illegal drug has been intercepted before reaching the streets, whether that's the streets of Gloucestershire or elsewhere.

"The operation was just part of an ongoing operation to combat drugs offences in this area and members of the public can be reassured we will continue to execute such warrants as we proactively target suppliers."

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