Sadiq Khan says yes, but is the UK really ready for looser rules around cannabis? We get two experts to argue for and against in this week’s Debate

YES: Detainments for cannabis offences have cost taxpayers over £2.5bn in the last decade

The London Drugs Commission’s latest report brings much-needed pragmatism to a conversation the UK has avoided for far too long. Its central finding is clear: the criminalisation of cannabis has failed.

This isn’t about promoting drug use, but about evidence-based reform rooted in public health and common sense. Criminal sanctions have done little to reduce cannabis use, but they’ve caused real harm: young people burdened with lifelong records, patients denied treatment due to stigma and communities disproportionately targeted by outdated enforcement.

Our overstretched criminal justice system is clogged with low-level cannabis offences. Over 90,000 cannabis possession offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to March 2024 – accounting for 72 per cent of all drug possession offences, according to the Home Office. The Commission rightly highlights the financial and human cost of prosecuting and imprisoning people for these incidents. Detainments for cannabis offences have cost taxpayers well over £2.5bn in the last decade. At a time when prisons are overcrowded and under-resourced, incarcerating........

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