Does London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan Really Want To Decriminalize Cannabis In The UK’s Capital City?

The mayor of the UK’s capital Sadiq Khan (belonging to the Labour celebration), is planning to develop a scheme to supply a substitute for arrest these caught with a small quantity of hashish.

In accordance with The Guardian, the diversion scheme, which continues to be below growth, could be based mostly on offering lessons and counseling, somewhat than arrest, to under-25-years-old individuals caught in possession of small portions of hashish.

The plan would contain three boroughs of the UK’s capital, however the pilot scheme is but to obtain approval from the mayor’s workplace for policing and crime. 

The Every day Telegraph reported that Khan was contemplating decriminalizing hashish in London. Nonetheless, Khan denied that report, insisting he didn’t have the ability to take action.

The mayor’s spokesman advised Sky News UK that Khan thinks that drug use and associated crimes are preventable and never inevitable.

Nonetheless, the mayor of London confronted the UK authorities criticism over this drug initiative as it could enable low-level hashish customers to keep away from prosecution, though his plan appears according to the opposite authorities diversion schemes.

The political collision between the mayor of London and the UK authorities over medication coverage just isn’t new.

In early 2021, when Khan introduced his intention to launch an inspecting assessment about the advantages of decriminalizing hashish within the UK’s capital, Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned Khan’s plans. Moreover, he reaffirmed that drug coverage is a matter for the UK authorities.

In December 2021, Johnson introduced to pledge $948 million (£700 million) over three years to sort out drug use, enacting measures o take away drug customers from the felony justice system and get them into healthcare. However on the identical time, Johnson ordered a “zero-tolerance” method on medication in jails.

Amid this context, the glimmer for a political debate over hashish decriminalization or legalization within the UK appears removed from being achieved.

The UK has some of the restrictive insurance policies over medication within the European continent. Drug diversion schemes, police-led packages geared toward diverting individuals caught committing minor offenses, work to maintain away low-level drug customers from the felony justice system. Nonetheless, in line with a number of specialists, drug diversion schemes are seen as de-facto decriminalization. However being caught in possession of small portions of hashish can nonetheless create points as disclosing the felony document can prohibit individuals from touring overseas to explicit jurisdictions and limiting them to making use of for particular job positions.

The political positions over hashish decriminalization within the UK are fairly fragmented. Solely the Liberal Democrats and the Inexperienced Celebration intention to manage hashish within the UK. However the two main events, the Labors and the Conservatives, appear inclined to not open any debate over hashish decriminalization or legalization. Nonetheless, some fringes of these events appear much less intransigent than their political leaders. They’re open to dialogue over hashish decriminalization based mostly on proof, swiping away the stigma on hashish over the political debate.

Even Labour chief Keir Starmer did not endorse London’s initiative and joined UK Prime Minister criticism over Khan’s plan. “On the medication laws, I’ve stated quite a few occasions, and I’ll say once more: I am not in favor of us altering the regulation or decriminalization. I am very clear about that. Clearly, we’ll take a look at these, however I am very clear that we’re not in favor of adjusting the medication legal guidelines,” he said on January 4, after delivering a speech in Birmingham. 

Khan will not be capable to decriminalize hashish in London as that is the competence of the UK authorities. Nonetheless, his stance on hashish decriminalization represents an added worth for the controversy over medication coverage within the UK. There’s nonetheless little data on how the pilot challenge deliberate by Khan will successfully work. As diversion schemes might fluctuate everywhere in the UK, they could possibly be taken Khan’s plan as a specimen to implement in different cities of the UK.