Dale, Lancashire
I agree, it isn't cannabis that's the gateway, it's the people users have to mix with to buy cannabis that are the gateway to harder and highly addictive drugs and criminal activity.

How can we ever have a fair assessment of the effects of cannabis while it is illegal? The figures available to consultants and advisers are surely those where harm has been done and users have needed or had to seek medical assistance. How many people use cannabis sensibly and are more than capable of carrying on with ordinary life the same as people who smoke cigarettes or drink? I doubt anyone knows because these people won't come forward as they are "criminals" and that is why any research on cannabis can never be fair or representative.

Catrina, Essex,

les, bradford, uk
I trust modern health systems will also be looking at the ill effects of alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs so that a true comparison and full analysis can be made. This is beginning to look like an assault on people who smoke cannabis so they can be criminalised and fined! Abuse is what causes the problems associated with many of these 'drugs'. Maybe we should also consider fining people for smoking too many cigarettes or drinking too much alcohol or for taking too many prozac pills!

Catrina, Essex,

"Hold the centre ground" Anthony Giddens used to say about the third way. This cannabis stuff looks more like a desperate attempt by Gordon Grown to keep the favor of the conservative voters while he's falling sharply in the polls, rather than a sensible policy based on facts and reports. Funny though because it tries to create a debate on drug consumption just before the elections. Borris Johnson admitted recently the use of cocaine and canabis when he was younger, not to say about David "Eaton-pothead" Cameron. Pure tactics for a desperate political situation. Sad that the real issues are not debated.

Alex Morgate, London, London

As a senior consuItant with modern health systems I have worked with addicts and their families over the past 10 years. I have known hundreds of addicts and their families whos lives have been ruined by drugs. The vast majority believe that Canabis was a 'gateway' drug. Unfortunately no one listens to them.

There is also growing evidence and concern that
Canabis causes mental health problems and is associated with depression and suicide. My research supports that view and I suspect that significant numbers of young people have committed suicide due to the effects of Canabis and Ectsasy.
and may be implicated in the Bridgend tragedies.

We at modern health systems are continuing to identify the mental health risks associated with the popular drug groups and the need to send clear and unambiguous messages to young people to counter the soft leberalist views that have caused so much damage in trivialising the risks associated with dangerous substances.

les, Bradford, UK

As a senior consuItant with modern health systems I have worked with addicts and their families over the past 10 years. I have known hundreds of addicts and their families whos lives have been ruined by drugs. The vast majority believe that Canabis was a 'gateway' drug. Unfortunately no one listens to them.

There is also growing evidence and concern that
Canabis causes mental health problems and is associated with depression and suicide. My research supports that view and I suspect that significant numbers of young people have committed suicide due to the effects of Canabis and Ectsasy.
and may be implicated in the Bridgend tragedies.

We at modern health systems are continuing to identify the mental health risks associated with the popular drug groups and the need to send clear and unambiguous messages to young people to counter the soft leberalist views that have caused so much damage in trivialising the risks associated with dangerous substances.

les, Bradford, UK

Reclassification of cannabis = loadsa money from users who will be fined if caught! Mr Brown cannot resist. What's worse is that any money raised will be wasted and spent on themselves as usual.

Catrina, Essex,

How many pot heads go on the streets and cause trouble its the streeet shit like crack, heroin etc. Most potheads sit in the house, have a joint and chill out, not go out on the rob to feed their habbit! cannabis is a relaxing drug, not a hyped up drug that will make u do things just to feed your habbit.

KEV MUNRO, MANCHESTER,

"Great Britain" bah, pull the other one. The goverment have been making a hash of things (excuse the pun) for a while now to the point that nobody knows what to belive or what direction to follow, including the overpaid, pompus fat cats who we are ment to trust. There has been so many wrong descions in the past decades that we are now looking at what those wrong descions are doing to society. Reclassifying cannabis wont make a blind bit of difference to people who choose to indulge in the more relaxed tipple, they choose not to run around like headless chickens after consuming too much cheap and strong alcohol which is a definate killer in our crumbling society. Its all about control, this is not a free country! the goverment will continue to take away peoples rights little by little until we have none left, then the people in power will have a whole lot more depressed, mentally fragile people on their hands!

Lorna, dundee, scotland

I believe that when talking about a "gateway" drug, i don't think cannabis is.

Its not the drug, its the dealer. The fact is people that deal, deal in anything that makes money.

Would taking the substance out of dealers hands by putting cannabis under government control, dispensed through pharmacies or other vendors work?
Would it be cheaper than imprisoning people in an already overcrowded prison system?
Under these circumstances could you control the THC content/strain?
Would it mean that people can obtain cannabis away from an individual who sells other harmful substances?
Would the drug be as appealing to drug dealers in terms of profit?

These are a few questions I would like to share.

I know it won't completely get rid of the endemic drug use of our society, or if it will ever leave. I am certain there are alternative ways, and there need to be alternative methods of controlling substance abuse.

Dale, lancashire,

Makes no difference what class it is, where there is demand there will always be a supply. legalise all drugs and take it out of the gangsters/dealers hands, then we can start to treat the causes behind people's drug abuse, whether it be alcohol, heroin or cannabis..

duncan f`, stockport, cheshire

I think history has shown us where the REAL criminals are. The criminals that force innocent people to buy herbs from illegal dealers pushing harmful quality product laced with ingredients that really could cause brain and lung damage. Prohibition clearly doesn't work. Decriminalising reduces the thrill factor and increases control of the substance, control of the revenue while reducing crime. It's shocking how asleep most of you are, and your supposed to be the non drug users? WAKE UP!

Robert Nesta, London,

I think that Mr Brown should put his own house in order before attacking people for their preferences.
Parliament seems to be populated by theives in suits, making claims for 'expenses' that are quite clearly fraudulent, how about some prosecutions Mr Brown ?

Clive Burghard, LANCING, ENGLAND

Lies...

Cannabis is not imported but grown here (99% of it).

It is not stronger but grown better than it was 20 year ago. Cannabis Resin (solid form) WAS stronger 20 years ago!

"skunk" is just a nickname for cannabis, as in it smells pungent, like a skunk.

They declassified it because the police said it was wasting police time which they could be spending on more serious crime???

They like to appear as if they are doing something because they don't want to tackle the import of Cocaine and Heroine!

The UN report said more Heroine has come out of Afghanistan after the invasion of US/UK troops than before... what does that tell you? Why don't they want to tackle the real problem affecting this country, the CLASS A's???

If you have undiagnosed mental problems and you take a mind altering drug like cannabis then to a doctor, it will then look as if the cannabis has educed the psychosis.
What if that person had been abused as a child, would that not be more of a trigger?

Bob, Newcastle,

Again, we see another pointless issue being the cause for massive debate that has no bearing on anything. Cocain and ecstasy are both class A drugs, carrying the highest prison sentence for possession and dealing, yet a trip to any pub in the UK will show that usage of both is rampant, both are readily available, and that people aren't remotely concerned about the penalties. Reclassifying cannabis will not change anything whatsoever and is just another smokescreen used by politicians to distract the public from real issues. People who smoke will continue to do so, students will continue to experiment as they have done for generations, and people who've never touched it will continue to whinge and quote inconclusive medical trials and as always pretend to be experts in something they know nothing about.

Dave G, London,

Call me cynical but isn't this just discrimination against a large sector of society that chooses cannabis as a safer and preferable alternative to alcohol?

I have an allergy to alcohol Mr. brown - do you really think it prudent to criminalise me further should I choose to ingest cannabis?

Also how many people suffer mental health problems as a result of alcohol - if it shown that alcohol is worse than cannabis then will you classify that as Class A too?

How many crimes is alcohol implicated in comparison to cannabis?

The emperor wears no clothes.

Johhny, Wales,

The government are acting like ostriches burying their heads in the sand. Do they really believe that changing a letter will influence the average cannabis user?

The government is effectively leaving the supply of a widely-used, relatively harmless recreational substance in the hands of criminal gangs and petty drug dealers.

It is the methods of supply that are harmful to society, not the use of the drug itself. The average cannabis user has no more criminal intent than the average drinker of guinness.

If the government really want to prevent, or at least limit the chances of children smoking cannabis, they should regulate it's supply. Sell it only in specially licensed premises that do not permit children to enter. If only such places existed...

iain, London,

Good on you Gordon - I wish some of the other politicians had the same convictions - maybe their all to scared of what might be discovered about their own youth!

sk, East Sussex,

All the pot heads are on here trying to say 'cigarettes and alcohol are much worse'
I don't become paranoid after I smoke a cigarette and It doesn't stop me doing my day to day job or driving, etc... etc...

Joe, Bristol, England

The rise in home grown weed has much more to do with the increase in security on consignments coming from the middle east and in particular pakistan and morocoo. The increase in customs and border control.

There was a definate reduction in quality and availablity throughout the last 4 years as well as a change from the traditional 9bar resin packaged and contininated by glass and plastic.

The result of this has been and increase in domestic production of the non processed herbal plant buds. The more they grow it the better they get and the more potent.

This however has reduced the money going abroad to fund terrorism and crime organisations in the middle east.

The original prohibition was based on smoke and you will die, and has evolved through several manifestations of reasoning over 60 years. Reasons for not smoking weed have been. Insanity, Death, Gateway Drug, Nyphomania, Depression, etc, etc and now back to insanity. Misinformation and waste of resources. People smoke

John, Edinburgh,

As far as I'm concerned if the goverment exerted as much time and effort into knife crime, gun crime, hard drugs, alchohol abuse, etc etc etc, and diverted the monies from "Don't smoke" advertising back into the health service and the police the country might be a better place!!!!

KEN S, SEDGEFIELD, DURHAM

If Gordon Brown is really concerned about the health of the nation then he should ban alcohol and nicotine – the two biggest casues of early death in our society.

He obviously isn't and that is why he is tinkering about with changing a peripheral drug from class c to b.

He is trying to look as if he is doing something while ignoring the elephant in the room. I thought he was meant to be an intelligent politician?

Grasp the real issue and focus on trying to stop the harm the UK's favourite drugs do to our society.

Cannabis is not even an issue worth considering until we face up to our addiction to booze and fags.

Graeme Thomson, Glasgow,

Until recently I worked at a small adult psychiatric rehabilitation unit. All three clients were diagnosed as drug-induced paranoid schizophrenics. That's not to suggest that it affects all users that way.
What was equally interesting was that three out of the four staff who admitted to using cannabis (though I doubt they brought it up in interview) had also experienced powerful enough episodes of paranoia to cause them to stop using the drug. It actually created a good synergy in the unit.
When you smoke dope, you run the risk of ending up on lifelong medication and being in a very long-term relationship with psychiatry. Some of the anti-psychotic drugs available today are pretty unpleasant in their side-effects, though very effective.
I haven't seen someone stoned kick anyone to death, but I have seen paranoid schizophrenics during particularly violent episodes. Believe me, it's a lot easier to encourage the drunk to the floor and restrain him.
Change the law? Too late, it's endemic.

Paul, Puerto del Rosario, Spain

I wonder what it will do to the children of the children who are now prevalent users of this drug.

If you have a child starting to use this drug on a regular basis at the age of 12 or 13 and we take into consideration the effects and changes on their still developing brains and then if we say these children (men and women) go on to father/mother their own children at the age of 16, what does the drug do to the sperm of young men and what effect does this have on the developing fetous? We know the drug has a detreimental effect on the young brains but is this then passed on in their sperm/eggs?

It is a scary thought, especially now that we see/hear about the verbal abuse and physical violence metted out by young people nowadays.

kim, london,

I am sick of people telling me what I can and cannot do to my body! That's all this is! People concerned about 'the children' need to think about doing some parenting for a change.
It's not about what we can and cannot ban, it's about the fact that I alone should decide what goes in my body!

This is just to increase prison populations and decrease freedom. We think the government works for the people!?

matthew , newcastle, newcastle

Having worked with people in the past who have had issues whith canabis (ie a phychotic episodes resulting in arrest and/or sectioning) i can only support any measures taken to reduce its use, however I'm not sure criminalising users is the way forward. why not reclassify "skunk" which as far as I'm aware is the strain thats causing the most issue?

Craig T, London,

I think that bretts comment that the problem is totaly out of control is ridiculous. Just replace the word cannabis with alcohol and you will be right. :

"To strong
To cheap
To readily available

Equals big social problems with youngsters"

When was the last time you heard of cannabis users kicking someone to death?

John Morgan, Old Stratford, United Kingdom

It Seems rather ridiculous to me that the law is to be changed based on the strength of the new strains of the plant. An habitual user will only use the amount required to acheive the desired state of mind, similar to the difference in volume consumed by beer drinkers vs whisky drinkers, or for that matter, the amount of concentrated washing up liquid used by housewives.

Richard Morley, St. Austell, UK

Breathtaking logic Mr Brown. The cannabis being smoked in the UK is supposedly increasingly strong, two to three times stronger than previously. So you'd imagine that people smoking it are at least 2-3 times more likely to get 2-3 times more paranoid. So let's add 2-3 times more fear by making it really really illegal. What an idiotic plan to reduce the cases of schizophrenia!

But seriously, with the planet almost on fire are we not at the point that "sending signals" and "political judgment" has to be replaced by copying something that works better, like the Dutch approach? The UK and the (rest of the world) should be seeking out any approach to all intractable issues that clearly work better now or did in the past any where else in the world, in human society or in nature and applying them at home to solve the plethora of problems threatening life on earth amongst other things.

Darius, Los Angeles, California

It won't make any difference. Are they going to put police in everyone's living room? No?....Oh well they won't stop dopeheads smoking weed then will they?

judy, Liverpool, England

What good is that going to do?? The government raised the age of buying cigarettes from 16 to 18 and a lot of us still smoke (maybe even more). Also you need to be 18 to buy booze but we still drink it. Weed will be put to a grade B doesn't mean we're gonna stop smoking it. So what is the point? Should the government deal with the chavs that go around killing people?

Jen, Bristol,

People seem to be focusing on "we need to protect the kids" angle.

However the govt cant stop underage teens from drinking booze, a legal, massively controlled, regulated and supposedly well policed drug. How do you think they will be able to reduce teenagers smoking pot when it is illegal ? drug dealers don't care about how old a user is, they don't care if its cut with toxic chemicals.

It would seem to me that the current drug policy is the most effeive way to increase harm.

Gavin, London, UK

"The drug is To strong, To cheap, To readily available, Equals big social problems with youngsters"

This statement should be used for alchohol. That drug does more physical & social damage than any other drug, Yet it is cannabis, again, that is the scapegoat.

If anything needs to be reclassified, it is alchohol. Just look at what too much alchohol does to most town centres on a weekend night after the pubs/clubs kick out. You would never see that after the dutch coffee shops close.

dom, london,

Gordon browns ignorance of scientific facts of his advisory council will criminalise more future taxpayer, cost taxpayers millions, help those who build prisons and generally help to get rid of prohibition the hard way, ie. the longer it goes on, the more drugs will be available from shady sources.
Rather than control harm and gain new taxes he could spend educating our youngsters, hopefully unbiased for once, he decides to assign more young people to the scaffold. He is responsible for more youngsters trying cannabis, it is him who exacerbates mental instabilities, he and his prohibitionist sirens debra Bell and majorie Wallace, now completely sidelined and debunked by a sensible and scientific advisory council. 10.000 people have died from side effects directly related to prescriprion drugs since 2000, the 0.0125% showing a propensity for mental ill health after cannabis rank well within the 5% safety margin accepted. Cannabis is good for us, it has more benefits than negatives.

ingo, norwich/norfolk, uk

Unbelievable! The government wants to criminalise as many people as possible. They want your DNA, 4.2m CCTV cameras and yet another little freedom disappears. How long will it be before we have to fill in a form before we have sex?!

On the face of it Brown seemed promising when he came into power but now we know we are dealing with another 'old school' zealot. There is no way that if they do not listen to their own advisory committee and push ahead with their own stalinist reforms that they will be around after the next general election.

Not even Daily Mail readers believe what the government says anymore never the 'young people' of this country. BTW, I am a 42 year old resepctable businessman and very fed up with this country and it's world view.

Edward Towers, London,

This 'evidence' totally contradicts everything everyone knows about cannabis on the streets. Cannabis in Ireland and the UK is the weakest and most contaminated of all of Europe. To protect citizens, I believe we should take a Dutch view, legalizing cannabis only for us at home or in coffee shops and strict over 18 availability. Problem solved

AnneMarie, Cork,

Smoked it for the last 23yrs, got a decent job, 3 kids, nice car and a good standard of living, never had a fight or robbed anyone in my life. I don't like drinking, you come home from a hard day at work and pour yourself a big drink or two, you go out at the weekend and drink yourself into the gutter, I will be the one watching Stars in their X-factor skating on ice search for a star rubbish on my sofa. Which of us is more likly to be causing the social problems?

Bob, Worcester, UK

Brett,
I am a student and I have been heavily smoking cannabis for some time now. I have never heard of superskunk making kids "keel over". Skunk can never get higher than about 10-15%. Whereas hash and resin can be much more potent, and these have been around for thousands of years. A certain type known as tibetan prayer balls is nearly pure thc. You are misinformed I am afraid.

You say that the drugs is too (yes, the word is TOO) strong, cheap and available.

Well, think of the strength like booze. You dont drink as much vodka as you do beer, and people dont smoke as much super skunk as they do rubbish skunk.
The price of cannabis has remained relativly constant relative to average income since the 70s.
Would you rather kids were getting stoned and giggling on a sofa, or getting drunk and causing mayhem?

Has anyone ever seen someone stoned causing a problem in the way that a drunk might?

PieFiend, Reading,

What an absolute waste of time this all is. The use of Cannabis in the UK is rife and simply reclassifiying it from class C to class B will not make a blind bit of difference to anyone using the drug.

As for the suppliers, why should they care about the consequences of a longer prison sentence? It is a well known fact that the prisons are overcrowded and until this is sorted out (which is highly unlikely under the current government) they can be confident that they will in most cases get away with a slapped wrist or a greatly reduced sentence.

If people want to smoke cannabis let them do so. Legalise it and tax it, putting more money into public services to fight real crime rather than wasting more of the taxpayers hard earned cash on this pointless venture!

Mark, Billericay, Essex, UK

Mr Brown is unqualified to make this decision.

He has no knowledge and no experience in this area. This is the reason for advice to be taken. He has decided that he knows better though. I think it is ridiculous.

If you analogise this situation to another in industry then it highlights the ridiculousness I think. Decisions are (should) be taken by those who are knowledgeable in the specific field that the decision is required in. Logic suggests that this is the best scenario.

Just one more item to the long list of those that I question the governments intentions on.

The government contains hypocrisy

Ian Samwell, Northampton,

The nanny state once again changes it's direction. Our government has far more important things to do than this. Yes it may be an issue, but what about the wars we are fighting? What about drink related crime, knife and gun crime, murders on our streets! Surely the above for quite a bit of priority. Our hospitals, our schools, our public transport, must come first. Time should not be wasted on the mildest of all illegal drugs before hard drugs, the people who supply or manufacture them are brought before the courts. Our prisons, illegal immigration, our benifits system, and far too many other things require the attention of our government and Prime Minister, before wasting time and energy talking about Canabis usage. Once all of the major things are properly dealt with, then is the time to debate canabis, but not before. I can't see many votes won or lost over canabis use.

Ray, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

The nanny state strikes again. Time for change.

Simon, Nottingham, UK

If the Government would schedule cannabis as a medicine then it could move the control of cannabis distribution out of the moral terrain into the domain of the regulation of the sale and supply of medicines.

It is possible that cannabis may have some utility as a palliative in some medical conditions and it is for this reason that it has become available from dispensing machines in the State of California.

If cannabis became a legal medicinal product then the State could target illegal production and distribution of this medicine without the encumbrage of the totalitarian (and irrational)mode of regulating moral behaviour that is the current operational platform.

If the current operational platform is retained then the conundrum remains: why should it be a crime to smoke some weed in your own home but be legal to enter a bar and become inebriated on products that accrue substantial contributions to the fiscus?

Greg, Hastings, Sussex

Brown to me is a man who desperate for headlines that he has lost his sanity to make sensible decisions. Listened to the advisory board who is their to counsel you, before you fall flat on your face again...

choy, london, uk

Another Labour U-turn on the way then!

Elisa, Napoli, Italy

Cannabis is not Heroin or Crystal Meth, drugs that are used by a tiny amount of the population and cause untold problems. It is the drug of choice for millions of people. These millions of citizens have jobs, families, dogs and cars. They pay their taxes and license fee's. The government has a duty to protect us from contamination and crime. The only way that this is possible is to is to regulate marijuana. At the very least I should be able to grow a few plants in my garden for personal consumption.

Niether is Cannabis in the same league as alcohol, a powerful mind altering drug taken legally in dangerous quantities by millions of adults on a daily basis. Why I am sure Mr Brown and Mrs Smith will enjoy a nice glass of "HOP Good Ordinary Claret" after re-classifying cannabis and alienating me.

arnie wellah, bridgend, wales

Laws should reflect reality and should be based on facts,

Gordon Brown wants to change the law to "send a signal to young people" that he disapproves of cannabis. A change in this law is not evidence-based.

Changing a law to send a false and untrue signal is very dangerous as its sets up the precedent that if the government lies about weed, what else are they telling falsehoods about. Kids are not stupid and most of them that have smoked weed have done so with only pleasurable results. They will know Gordon is lying and will think that the government is being less than honest about the dangers of other substances, like coke and smack.

You would have thought the British government did enough damage to itself over the Iraq war, but apparently they wish to undermine themselves even more.

Gordon Brown is really changing the laws for one reason, to appear tough on drugs. The harm his unilateral decision will have on society will be far worse than any damage cannabis can do to people.

the northlondonhippy, north london,

So Gordon Brown, who absolutly relies on expert reviews and reports for practically every decision he now makes, decides to ignore this specific expert advice because he disagrees with it. Typical Brownian hypocrisy.

There is no scientific case that proves cannabis is any more harmful than tobacco or alchohol, it's probably less harmful.

Pretty much everyone I know has at least tried cannabis at some time, usually at parties and suchlike. Along with 'e' and other occasional recreational 'treats.'

And as for being a 'gateway' drug, I think this is a misconception. People who take harder drugs are more likely disposed to do so anyway because of their personality and situation in life regardless of previous cannabis use.

clivex, Brussels,

I am totally backing the Government for a change on this one!
Cannabis is not just Cannabis anymore!

Form of super skunk in some cases is so strong I have kids keel over as if they have injected with a lethal dose of grade B drug.

The problem of cannabis and kids is totally out of control something must be done!
The drug is

To strong
To cheap
To readily available

Equals big social problems with youngsters

Brett Bevan, London, Chingford

i don't understand why something like cannabis is not allowed because of it's effects, yet alcohol and cigarettes are allowed when you get lung cancer, all this stuff with your kidney/liver or whatever.

seems really hypocritical because people die from drunk drivers and effects of drinking loads, not smoking some stupid cannabis

rob, nottingham, uk

"The Times disclosed in January that Mr Brown and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, were determined to reverse the decision to downgrade cannabis taken by David Blunkett."

Is this the same Jacqui Smith who used cannabis herself? What hypocrisy.

Sid, London, UK