News and views: Brown will upgrade cannabis to class B substance despite advice of drugs experts
The Independant - Downing Street made it clear yesterday that the Prime Minister is determined to upgrade cannabis from a class C to a class B substance with a maximum jail sentence of five years for possession.
But opposition parties claimed the Government's drugs policy was in chaos after it emerged that Mr Brown would ignore the conclusion of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that cannabis should remain a class C substance.
It will be the first time for 30 years that a prime minister has disregarded the recommendations of the body set up to advise ministers on drugs legislation.
The advisory council was instructed in the summer to review the legislation on cannabis after alarm that super-strong varieties were becoming more popular and that cannabis was linked to schizophrenia.
Mr Brown signalled then that he wanted the controls toughened, but faces embarrassment after the drugs experts and scientists reached the opposite conclusion.
It is understood to have agreed that a link between heavy cannabis use and mental illness could not be proved and to have dismissed suggestions that the downgrading of the drug to a class C substance four years ago sent a confusing message to the public. Only a handful of advisory council members backed restoring cannabis to class B.
Mr Brown's spokesman attempted to play down the decision, insisting the advisory council would not submit its final report until the end of the month. But he confirmed that the Prime Minister did not feel automatically bound by its recommendations: "[Mr Brown] did say he would take advice and look at what they say."