BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1702 (Published 16 October 2024)Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q1702
- David Nutt, Edmond J Safra professor of neuropsychopharmacology and director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the Division of Brain Sciences1,
- Lucy Stafford, Snowdon master’s scholar in neuroscience2,
- Robin M Murray, professor of psychiatric research3,
- Laura Stack, founder and chief executive of Johnny’s Ambassadors
- Correspondence to: Lucy Stafford lucy_stafford@yahoo.com, Laura Stack laura@johnnysambassadors.org
Yes—David Nutt and Lucy Stafford
There are many reasons why the UK should legalise recreational cannabis. At the core is the fact that the British people won’t continue to believe the misinformation used to justify the current law prohibiting cannabis, which emphasises punishment rather than public health and harm reduction, while massively restricting patient access to the drug for medical use.
Cannabis provides a notably wider and safer therapeutic index than most commonly used drugs, demonstrating an excellent preclinical toxicity and safety profile,1 and no fatal cannabis overdose in humans has ever been reported.2 Most cannabis consumers experience no severe drug related harms and frequently report therapeutic benefits, including better sleep and management of pain, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, with a concomitant reduction in opioid prescribing,3 providing an important intervention in the opioid crisis.
Prohibition harms
Legalisation will rectify a 90 year historical anomaly—a policy driven by a racist US political agenda and adopted by recent Labour and Conservative governments in the UK for electoral advantage. The implementation of de facto decriminalisation by police around the UK highlights the failure and futility of current policy.
However, until statutory decriminalisation is introduced, ethnic minority groups are disproportionately targeted, as black people are 12 times as likely as white people to be convicted if found in possession of cannabis.4 This ongoing cruel and unjust criminalisation results in detrimental outcomes for life for individuals and their families, limiting their educational and professional prospects while …
