DAVID BLUNKETT spoke yesterday of his agonising over the reclassification of cannabis as a class C drug and rejected criticism of the proposal by the British Medical Association and calls for him to think again.

The move, which comes into effect a week today, has been criticised in recent weeks after The Times reported concerns among doctors about links between cannabis and psychiatric problems.

Mr Blunkett admitted that his concerns about drugs policy during a wideranging interview about his work as Home Secretary. Despite a persistent cold, he was in an optimistic mood. “We are halfway through the Parliament,” he said. “We have got some of the basic reforms under way and that will allow us to get on with some of the more radical things. You have to push the boat out and persuade people of what you are doing.”

Robin Murray, head of psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, told The Times that up to 80 per cent of new psychotic cases reported a history of cannabis use.

Mr Blunkett admitted that he is “going to take a bit of stick over the next few weeks” over his cannabis decision, “but let’s see if it works”. He referred to the police diverting their resources to picking up dealers and to “the unsung story” of getting treatment as an important way of resolving the link between drugs and crime, particularly heroin.

The decision on reclassification will be kept under review. “If there is a politician who believes they have the definitive answer on drugs, I would like to know who they are,” Mr Blunkett said. “It is the challenge of the next two decades. Its destructive power in terms of criminality, fracturing of families and communities is devastating.”

Asked if he was having second thoughts, he said: “I would be lying if I did not say we agonised over this all the way along. I have not started to agonise. I did when we started to address what we were going to do because there are major contradictions.”

He added: “I would not ever want to change policy because one eminent psychiatrist has seen a lot of patients who have taken cannabis and whose psychosis has been accelerated, or because the BMA has suddenly put out a press release that completely contradicted what it said two years ago.

“I have to be much more long-term and steady about this. I think honesty and transparency from politicians about what was already happening in many police force areas was correct in terms of public policy. We had hidden behind our hands, saying you (the police) can divert your resources to class A killer drugs and we will countenance it, but don’t ask us to endorse it. But that was dishonest. It led to disparities and major variations across the country.

“Many parents, though not the ones who have come forward with children who have got psychosis, said to me when I sat in on conferences that the difficulty with the message going out was that all drugs are the same. We said to our kids that if you smoke cannabis the damage you will do is this and this. Then when they smoked it, 40 per cent of under-40s have, and it did not damage them, they do not believe them when they said that if you move to heroin and crack, you will destroy your lives. Therefore, tell it as it really is.”

Mr Blunkett insisted that he had not put out a mixed message. “I did not say cannabis was legal,” he said. “What we are saying is that cannabis is illegal. For some people it is dangerous. For others it is destructive, so don’t do it. You don’t need drugs to get through life. But for young people, let us be clear that crack will drive you bonkers and heroin will destroy your life. Both are potential killers. That is a simple and powerful message.”

He said that getting that message across would “accelerate what is just beginning to happen: a discernible drop in class A drug use for the under-25s”.

More generally, Mr Blunkett believes that he has been vindicated over many of his much-criticised criminal justice and immigration reforms. He pointed to the general acceptance now of controversial changes, such as the reorganisation of the police, recruitment of more community support officers and the new citizenship tests. “We have shifted more in 2½ years than previous governments have been able to do on those fronts,” he said. “We have to lay the foundations for progressive politics. People will listen to us. They will allow us greater elbow room if they feel confident, trusting and stable in their own lives.”

He added: “We will embark on a broader civil renewal agenda, looking at relationships between government and people.” Mr Blunkett is setting out his ideas for a radical renewal of democracy in a speech today to a conference organised by the New Local Government Network think-tank. This is part of the debate within the Government about a third-term programme.

Referring to his period as leader of Sheffield City Council 20 years ago, he said: “I am returning to my roots. I used to preach that we needed to devolve to neighbourhoods and communities. If we want to restore confidence in democracy, we need to do this first.”

Mr Blunkett explains his proposals for more street wardens and community support officers in this context of local democratic control because residents would vote about whether they wanted to take part. He said that in some of the crime-ridden housing estates in his Sheffield constituency, there had been a turnaround in the past 12 months: “Suddenly, there is a spirit of hope.”

Tories would reclassify drug

Michael Howard said last night that the Tories would reverse the Government’s decision to downgrade cannabis to a class C drug.

In a newspaper interview, the Tory leader said Labour’s move was misconceived, and that his party would restore cannabis to Class B if it won power. Mr Howard said that the downgrading would send a message that the drug was safe and legal, when it was not. His party unveils its drugs policy today.

Last month David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, also said the downgrading should be reversed.

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