London Mayor Backs Marijuana Decriminalization After A Commission He Created Recommends Reform

The mayor of London is voicing support for the decriminalization of marijuana following the release of a comprehensive report the government commissioned that ultimately determined that criminalizing people over simple possession of cannabis does more harm than good and disproportionately impacts minority communities.

On Wednesday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the report from the independent London Drugs Commission (LDC), which he established, “makes a compelling, evidenced-based case for the decriminalization of possession of small quantities of natural cannabis.”

While the policy recommendation to move marijuana from the Misuse of Drugs Act to the Psychoactive Substances Act has been described as decriminalization, the proposal to remove any criminal penalties associated with low-level possession and stop police from conducting searches people over the smell of cannabis would effectively be non-commercial legalization.

What the report expressly does not recommend, however, is legalizing and regulating cannabis sales—at least for now. That comes as a disappointment to advocates, who feel the debate over reform and evidence from jurisdictions that have taken that step sufficiently shows that enacting commercial legalization would promote public safety with minimal risk.

“We need fresh thinking on how to reduce the substantial harms associated with drug-related crime in our communities,” the mayor said in a statement. “Better education, improved healthcare and more effective, equitable policing of cannabis use are long overdue.”

“This comprehensive independent report makes a number of recommendations for City Hall, the government and others,” Khan said. “We will be studying these recommendations carefully and sharing the report’s findings with all the relevant parties, including the government, local authorities, the Met police, [National Health Service] London and other health and education partners.”

The LDC report—titled “The Cannabis Conundrum: A Way Forward For London”—includes a total of 42 recommendations, both for London and the U.K. more broadly, that focus on the “education, healthcare and policing of cannabis.”

Beyond decriminalizing marijuana, the body advised the government to study racial disparities in cannabis enforcement, conduct an updated cost-benefit analysis of legalization, codify that the smell of marijuana can’t be used as a pretext for a police search and explore the possibility of allowing limited home cultivation—with the caveat that the commission feels that policy shouldn’t be implemented until evidence demonstrates it can mitigate the illicit market.

But LDC repeatedly emphasized that it is not endorsing commercial legalization.

“Possible gains from legalization, including tax revenues and reductions in criminalization, can be realized early,” it said. “However, the extent of harms, particularly with respect to public health, as well as personal and societal costs, take longer to emerge and are not yet well understood.”

“It is commonplace for legalization to be seen as the panacea for all the problems associated with the prohibition of cannabis use,” the report said. “We have not come to that conclusion, but we do not make the case for retaining the status quo.”

Decriminalizing cannabis possession, while maintaining criminal penalties for the sale, manufacturing and importation of marijuana, “represents the best way of addressing key harms of the current law, without risking others that further relaxation, or legalization, at least at the moment, would likely entail,” it said.

Lord Charlie Falconer KC, chair of LDC, said in a press release that the report represents “the most extensive consideration of what is the correct public policy response to cannabis in recent times.”

“It is clear that a fundamental reset is required. Legalization is not the answer. The criminal justice system response needs to focus only on the dealers and not the users,” he said. “Those who suffer from the adverse effects of cannabis—which may be a small percentage of users but it is a high number of people—need reliable, consistent medical and other support. And there needs to be much more education on the risks of cannabis use.”

“Our Report provides detailed recommendations on how the law needs to change to reflect a new focus for the criminal justice system, and how the response of the public and other sectors can better support those damaged by cannabis use,” Falconer added.

Despite the report’s findings and the mayor’s endorsement, a spokesperson for the U.K. government’s Home Office, which would be responsible for reclassifying controlled substances, told The Times that it currently has “no intention” of changing the legal status of cannabis.

“We will continue to work with partners across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use, ensure more people receive timely treatment and support, and make our streets and communities safer,” they said. “We have no intention of reclassifying cannabis from a class B substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act.”

Current law makes possession of marijuana punishable by a maximum five year prison sentence. And, notably, the Home Office recently released its own report along with RAND Europe that reached the conclusion that the enforcement of criminalization for drugs is more likely to increase violence than decrease it.

Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst for the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told Marijuana Moment that he’s “disappointed” with the report’s final recommendation, as he’d “hoped for so much more.”

“The critique of criminalization and accompanying semi-decrim call is welcome of course,” he said. However, the “rejection of legal regulation is based on tired arguments” such as the commission’s suggestion that legalization wouldn’t meaningfully reduce the illicit market and that youth would have wider access.

“They seem to be arguing that it could be done badly and have some bad outcomes—but this is like saying, ‘Why did you you build a bridge over the ravine out of matchsticks?’ OBVIOUSLY YOU NEED TO DO IT PROPERLY,” Rolles said.

A report released earlier this year by Transform found that legalizing and taxing marijuana for adults in the U.K. would earn the country an estimated £1.5 billion in tax revenue and government savings each year.

A United Nations agency report from last September highlighted human rights concerns raised by the war on drugs, urging member states to shift from punitive drug-control policies to an approach rooted in public health. Dealing with drugs as a criminal problem, it said, is causing further harm.

That same year, the government of Scotland, which is part of the U.K., said that the war on drugs had “failed” and that it was time to decriminalize currently illicit substances, while promoting harm reduction services like overdose prevention centers.

Separately, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) in February blasted U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, telling him to “put down the bong” and “stop dipping into your ketamine stash”—a response to a U.K. agreement to turn over authority of a British territory where a joint military base is stationed.

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