Home secretary: I wish I'd never taken a hard line on cannabis

By

Gordon Brown's government should never have reclassified cannabis, his former home secretary has said.

Jacqui Smith reclassified cannabis from a Class C to a Class B drug when she was in Cabinet, following a liberalisation of the law under David Blunkett and Tony Blair a few years earlier.

"I'm more sympathetic now to the argument that there are people who use cannabis without harm," she told the Radio Times.

"I don't want tough messages being sent out by the law always translated into tough action against individuals."

Smith was advised by scientific experts not to reclassify the drug amid signs usage was falling, but many observers concluded Brown wanted to appeal to the Daily Mail with a conservative social agenda.

"From the people I've talked to in this programme, I know that it [reclassification] also caused confusion and dissent," Smith said.

"Was that worth the positive impacts of the change in law that I introduced? I'm no longer sure it was. I don't believe in decriminalisation or legalisation. But knowing what I know now, I would resist the temptation to resort to the law to tackle the harm from cannabis.

"Education, treatment and information, if we can get the message through, are perhaps a lot more effective."

Stoned Again is on BBC Radio 5 Live at 22:00 GMT on Thursday November 29th.

Political news to your inbox

Fill in your details to receive Politics.co.uk's brand of informed, in-depth and independent coverage of Westminster to your inbox

Hot topics

Britain's great energy debate

How the power gets to Britain's homes in the next century remains a matter of deep controversy

As the next general election begins to loom over the horizon, the debate over Britain's future energy mix is starting to hot up - and nothing seems guaranteed.

The Heathrow third runway debate

Heathrow's third runway is just one of many options

There won't be a final decision on Britain's long-term aviation strategy until after the 2015 general election - but an aggressive national debate is already underway.

Opinion Former Events

BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition & Conference 2013

Following the great success of the BSIA's Information Destruction Conference and Exhibition in May 2012, we are pleased to annouce that the event is returning again in June 2013. This one-day conference and exhibition is aimed at key decision makers in organisations that carry out the secure destruction of confidential material.