Last updated 11:16, Saturday, 17 May 2008

Prof John Ashton, Cumbria's director of public health

IF ANYBODY thinks that reclassifying cannabis will have any impact on its use, then they are misguided.

There is a huge illegal drugs industry that’s in the hands of gangsters making very large amounts of money out of it.

All this will do is criminalise large numbers of young people whose only crime is to do what a lot of other young people are already doing.
One of the things we need to look at is why do our young people want to do drugs of any kind, be it alcohol, tobacco, cannabis etc.

How have we created an environment where people can’t get through the day without some sort of drug? Education is important and we should be providing alternatives.

But I believe the immediate argument is that we should be controlling availability and taking supply away from the gangsters.

This means supplying cannabis through chemist shops, clearly labelled with full details of its strength and contents so people know exactly what they are getting.

You should only be able to buy it over the counter. I believe that cigarettes should only be available this way too. They are all drugs after all.
I actually believe that any mind-altering substances, like cigarettes and alcohol, shouldn’t be promoted or advertised. I’d even go as far to say that promoting drug use should be a criminal offence.

I think there is reason to be concerned about the stronger cannabis that’s around now, particularly the type that has been grown in houses with chemical systems. It’s not like the cannabis that people used to have in the Sixties and Seventies.

That’s why we need to make sure that when cannabis is being taken, it is safe and clearly labelled like any other toxic substance on the market.

The problem here is that reclassifying the drug is going to criminalise large numbers of young people, but do nothing to tackle the professional drug dealers.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m against drugs, but I think you can actually make matters worse by criminalising people for taking them. After this decision we are going to see more people being excluded from school and ending up with criminal records,

What I have been calling for and what we still haven’t had is a grown-up debate about cannabis. It is a drug that has been in our society for over 40 years and is not just used by a minority group on the edge of society, as is often assumed.

In nearly every social circle there are people who use cannabis.

Last week the Prime Minister said he was going to listen to people before making a decision. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said it should remain a class C.

Yet the Home Secretary has decided to ignore that advice, which doesn’t seem to me like they have listened to anyone. I’m anti-drugs but sometimes you have to forget your principles in order to do the right thing.

• Read a Cockermouth mother's story about the effects cannabis had on her son here