Shooting ourselves in the foot

During this year's General Election campaign one of my friends, who doesn't always vote Liberal Democrat, was enthusiastically considering voting for us. Then our cannabis policy was announced in the press. For her this cast a shadow over her voting intentions and she had grave doubts that she would now vote Liberal Democrat. She had run an urban centre in the UK for homeless men for 7 years. Around 50-80 men visited this centre each day. A common pattern, with a proportion of the men, was to arrive at the centre because of family breakup and unemployment but in a general state that they could be helped to turn their lives round. Then they would adopt the habit of taking cannabis regularly and over time become permanently mentally ill and no longer be in a state to access help. This is so tragic and so sad.

I'm personally in favour of legalising and regulating cannabis use. The aspects of doing this that particularly interest me are, those who choose to use cannabis for recreational and/or medical purposes are no longer criminalised and users can ensure being supplied with cannabis without impurities which is better for their health. With regard to the present position of criminalisation there is maximum sentence of 5 years in prison for use of cannabis and a maximum of 14 years in prison for trafficking. However in recent years the cautions for initial possession and people charged have fallen. From 2010 to 2015 by 48% and 33% respectively. This has resulted in the number of people imprisoned for this offence being relatively low compared to the general prison population for example in 2015, there were 1,363 imprisoned for offences to do with cannabis - about 1 to 1.5 % of the total prison population. These people are probably mostly cannabis traffickers. These figures all indicate that cannabis users are no longer a priority for the police no doubt influenced by recent cuts. There are of course other benefits of legalising and regulating cannabis. It is thought that annually about I billion pounds could be raised in tax revenue in addition to the savings on criminal justice costs and regulation should create extensive employment through production, distribution and selling.

However using cannabis is not without its health risks. For 25 years I worked as a professional Health Educator. I taught Health Education and Biology in secondary schools, mostly comprehensives, for 5 years and then after obtaining a Diploma in Health Education decided to do my Health Education by teaching yoga free-lance for 20 years. Through my training and teaching experience I am very aware of the concept of Informed Choice; it is the backbone of Health Education. As an educator you endeavour to provide your students with accurate and wide ranging information about a particular aspect of health. Then through various activities, including discussion, you facilitate the exploration of the topic and hopefully each student can then gradually work towards a decision that is right for them. In promoting our policy of Legalising Cannabis I feel we need to put more emphasis on the educational aspect of this. In our 2017 manifesto policy in relation to other illegal drugs the educational aspect is stated though perhaps rather fleetingly;

"End imprisonment for possession of illegal drugs for personal use, diverting those arrested for possession of drugs for personal use into treatment and education (adopting a health-based approach), or imposing civil penalties."

This policy document doesn't mention education in relation to legalising cannabis use.

A well researched and balanced leaflet by The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2014) outlines the possible risks of using cannabis but also acknowledges that most people who use cannabis find it pleasurable. However for some people, who probably have a vulnerability, there can be serious deleterious effects such as depression or psychosis. In addition a large New Zealand study found that adolescents who used cannabis were developing a way of life that didn't help with schoolwork.

A more recent study, published August 2017, showed that cannabis use raises the risk of dying from high blood pressure. 1,200 subjects who used cannabis were studied over 20 years. They were three more times likely to die from high blood pressure and with each year of use this risk grew by 4%. This effect may be worse than a similar effect from cigarette smoking.

I feel our Legalising Cannabis policy should have a strong emphasis on also educating people about cannabis so each person can make an informed choice. I feel we Liberal Democrats in promoting this policy should give a clear message that we are also involved in education about cannabis. Such a programme would not be difficult or expensive as good materials, such as the above leaflet, are freely available. If we were clearly seen to be involved in this educational aspect I feel many voters would be reassured.

The whole subject of Legalising Cannabis is complex; there are many strands. In being presented in the media it is usually over simplified, I know often intentionally by the press to give a certain impression, and this gives room for people's fears. I feel we should try to present the ideas in a fuller and more balanced way. I hope those in the Liberal Democrats who are responsible for presenting our policies to the voters will work on finding a way to address some of the issues I have raised. Perhaps using the term Informed Choice somewhere along the way would help. If we don't change how we present this policy I do feel it will continue to put some voters off and it will indeed "Shoot Us in the Foot".

I'm glad to report that my friend, mentioned at the start of this piece, did vote Liberal Democrat and the LIb Dem candidate was elected! I hope that the conversation I had with her about this issue played some part in her decision.

* Jane Reed is a Liberal Democrat member and activist in York