Police have been accused of decriminalising cannabis by stealth as forces recorded a drop in possession offences of up to 75 per cent in a decade. More than half of police forces recorded 40 per cent fewer crimes despite cannabis remaining the most popular drug, analysis by The Timesshowed. Police chiefs and police and crime commissioners (PCCs), as well as the organisation for rank-and-file officers, have called for a review of the legislation on drugs, particularly cannabis. Recorded crime for possession of cannabis has dropped in most forces since 2008, with Greater Manchester’s figure falling by 75 per cent.

A major study into the effects of cannabis on the human brain is at risk of being partially thwarted because too few black users have agreed to take part. White people have come forward in large numbers offering to get involved in King’s College London’s £2.5m study of how the drug may contribute to paranoia and psychosis in some users but not others. It is hoped the project will pave the way for wider medicinal use and make illegal recreational use safer. However attempts to recruit black and Asian people who smoke, vape or eat marijuana have been met with suspicion over how data about illegal drug use will be used and distrust of the establishment.

It will be legal to grow and sell cannabis in Bermuda – if controversial legislation passed in the House of Assembly gets Royal Assent from the Governor. The Cannabis Licensing Act 2022 would create a regulated framework for growth and sale of the drug. A series of licences would be available through a licensing authority, which will allow people to not only possess more, but also to grow, harvest, sell, and export it. The Bill was introduced by Walter Roban, the minister for home affairs, who was standing in for Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General. Mr Roban, in a repeat of the speech that Ms Simmons delivered in the House a year ago, said that the illegality of cannabis was “an unjust colonial legacy” and evidence of “systemic racialised disparities” where Black people were criminalised by a White oligarchy.

A new analysis of cannabis research funding in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom has found that $1.56 billion was directed to the topic between 2000 and 2018—with about half of the money spent on understanding the potential harms of the recreational drug. Just over $1 billion came from the biggest funder, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which doled out far more money to research cannabis misuse and its negative effects than on using cannabis as a therapeutic drug. However, overall cannabis research funding in the United States is rising steadily, from less than $30.2 million in 2000 to more than $143 million in 2018, and money to explore cannabis medical treatments is growing—although not as fast as funding for research on harms.

A group of cross-party MPs said the UK could completely legalise cannabis use within a decade following a research trip to Canada. Labour’s David Lammy, the Liberal Democrats’ Sir Norman Lamb and Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly visited the country to study the legal weed market, set up after the drug was decriminalised there last year. The Tottenham MP Lammy said he had shifted his stance on the drug, deciding to back legalisation in a departure from his party’s official position. “I want the market legalised, regulated and taken away from crime gangs,” the Tottenham MP told BBC’s Newsbeat. “I want to see the strength of the stuff reduced, labelled and properly organised in this country.” (See also: Over half of Brits support cannabis legalisation in the UK)

In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Catha edulis) provides an interesting anomaly. It is first of all a plant-based substance that undergoes minimal transformation or processing in the journey from farm to market. Secondly, khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. In European countries, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years.

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Khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. Outside that area, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years. Where khat has been studied extensively, namely Australia, the UK and until recently the Netherlands, governments have steered clear of prohibition because the negative medical and social harms do not merit such controls. Where strict bans on khat have been introduced they have had severe unintended negative consequences and failed to further the integration, social incusion and economic prosperity of Somali communities in particular, which chew khat most widely. Experi­ences fromNorth America andScandi­navia show that a ban will not solve problems associated with kath but tend to increase them.

Class A drug use among young adults is at a 16-year-high, driven by increases in powder cocaine and ecstasy use, official estimates have revealed. Around 8.7% of adults in England and Wales aged 16 to 24 had taken a class A drug in the last year, equating to around 550,000 young people, the 2018/2019 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) shows. This is the highest recording since the 2002/2003 survey and Home Office statisticians said it was a “statistically significant” rise compared with the 2011/2012 survey seven years ago, when a previous decline in class A use reversed and started to climb back up. (See also: Drug use in England and Wales is up for the fourth year in a row | As our cocaine use rises again, hypocritical politicians are wasting a £10bn warchest)

The future UK government has been urged to consider every available measure to curb the current drug death “crisis”, including decriminalisation, in an unprecedented plea from the UK’s major drug treatment providers. They implored the next government to be “brave and radical” in the changes they make to current drug laws, described as “not fit for the modern world”. An independent commission must be established to revamp “incredibly outdated” policy, with no options off the table, said the UK’s largest drug treatment provider, Change Grow Live. Ahead of the general election, the charity urged all political parties to commit to setting up this commission and implementing whatever it recommends.

Drug treatment experts have raised concerns a drop in the supply of illicit drugs to the UK triggered by the lockdown is leading to an increase in the number of users turning to more dangerous alternatives. A reduction in global travel, increased border restrictions and a slowdown in movement within the UK has resulted in a drop in the supply of illicit drugs, including heroin and the designer drug spice. Border guards have noted a recent drop in seizures as traffic into the country subsides, while senior police sources have noted the dip in supply. There is a significant risk of heroin users substituting with fentanyl, a lethal drug 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin.

The man running the UK’s most progressive drug diversion scheme believes it’s “totally ludicrous” for officers to seek to arrest drug users at a mobile drugs van in Scotland. David Jamieson, crime commissioner for the West Midlands, set up the  Divert scheme in Birmingham to channel drug addicts committing low level crimes into treatment instead of jail. He revealed that, in just five weeks, more than 100 minor drug offenders have agreed to enter into treatment programmes instead of being dealt with in courts. He is a major support of Drug Consumption Rooms, which have been a core part of drugs policy in most European countries - but are banned in the UK.

A six-year study of Britain's drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalisation. The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), an independent advisory body, says possession of small amounts of controlled drugs should no longer be a criminal offence and concludes the move will not lead to a significant increase in use. (See also: Case for drug decriminalisation rests on failure of 40-year-old law)

In Bristol, there were 49 drug related deaths in 2017/18 – the highest ever recorded. There are almost 5,000 heroin and crack users in the city and, despite Bristol’s well-regarded treatment services, there are 2,000 people who aren’t getting any help. In 2018, a feasibility study into whether a safe consumption room (SCR) could benefit Bristol was commissioned by the council, but it wasn’t published. The study found evidence that an SCR could help reduce Bristol’s high levels of the drug-related harms, particularly among heroin and crack users with complex needs who struggle to engage with current treatment. Currently the Home Office remains opposed, but drug policy experts have suggested local authorities would have the power to open them if there was agreement with police and other stakeholders.

In late 2020, a converted van appeared in central Glasgow. Inside were clean needles, sterilising equipment, mirrors, “sharps bins” for the disposal of syringes, and supplies of the overdose reversal drug naloxone. There were also boxes containing protein bars, tea, blankets and a defibrillator, as well as two chairs and tables where injections could be prepared. The van had been converted, and was being driven, by Peter Krykant – an ex-outreach worker with his own history of homelessness and injecting drug use. Frustrated with the fact that no overdose prevention centre (OPC) had yet opened in the city despite calls from the local NHS, he took the law into his own hands and, after a successful crowdfunding campaign, opened one independently.

Scotland should tackle its drug deaths crisis by pushing towards decriminalisation and daring Westminster to try to block it. The powers to decriminalise drug use or possession are currently reserved to Westminster but Michael Collins, a former director at the Drug Policy Alliance in the U.S.,  believes Scotland should follow the examples of US jurisdictions that faced down the White House to tackle their own crises. He cites the examples of cannabis reforms in Colorado and Washington, and Oregon, which voted to decriminalise the possession of heroin and other hard drugs in favour of advocating addiction recovery centres, despite federal opposition. “I think one of the things the Scottish Government has to do is recognise that it has a lot of ability to push the envelope right now.”

A government minister vetoed the appointment of an expert to a public body after vetting found she had criticised the Home Office and called for drug policy reform. Documents released under a subject access request also reveal that candidates for public bodies now have their social media profiles scrutinised by ministers. An online search by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) secretariat found that Niamh Eastwood, the director of Release, the UK’s centre on drugs and drug laws, had described a Home Office policy position as “utter BS” and claimed it was “just making s**t up” in a tweet. Eastwood had been deemed appointable to the ACMD, which makes drug policy recommendations to government. (See also: Home Office drugs policy panel decision condemned)

The UK's drug laws are preventing scientists from carrying out vital research to unlock our understanding of the brain and find new treatments for conditions such as depression and Parkinson's disease, according to Professor David Nutt, a leading neuroscientist and former government drug adviser. "Things are actually getting worse," said Nutt, referring to the restrictions placed on research.

The UK and the Netherlands commissioned distinguished scholars and experts to study the social and clinical harms of khat. These experts argued that any harms associated with khat did not require a criminal law response. In rejecting that conclusion and banning khat, these two governments have created an enabling environment for organized criminal networks and may exacerbate racial discrimination in drug law enforcement. Moreover, these policies put in danger the livelihood of thousands of people in some of the world’s lowest-income settings.

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A criminal justice expert has quit the Home Office’s drug advisory panel, claiming political interference in the appointment process is undermining its independence. Prof Alex Stevens, a senior member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), resigned over the alleged “political vetting” of panel members by the government. The resignation comes a few months after the crime minister Victoria Atkins vetoed the appointment of Niamh Eastwood, the executive director of the drugs charity Release, after government vetting found she had previously criticised the Home Office and called for drug policy reform.

Disappearing and underfunded drug treatment services and fruitless attempts to restrict the flow of illegal substances into the country underpin a booming £9.4bn illicit drugs market in the UK, a landmark review has found. Prof Dame Carol Black was commissioned by the former home secretary Sajid Javid to lead a major review to look into the ways in which drugs are fuelling serious violence. Black’s analysis called for radical change to the UK’s approach to treatment. Efforts to restrict supply have had “limited success” and even if they were fully funded it might not make a difference to the flow of drugs into the country. (See also: Ian Hamilton: “They talk, we die”—the continuing paralysis of UK drug policy)