What’s the problem, exactly?

But many people in the UK do not believe cannabis use is a serious problem. “Cannabis is seriously misunderstood in the UK, and this scheme doesn’t achieve anything and simply delays the inevitable legalisation process,” said Marwan Elgamal, founder of THC, a leading cannabis lifestyle brand, who has organized events at annual 4/20 celebrations in London’s Hyde Park, attended by tens of thousands. 

“The UK has the opportunity to introduce a process of labeling cannabis potency to help adults make informed choices, take billions out of the hands of criminals, and stop tarnishing people’s life opportunities while freeing up police resources,” Elgamal added. “Now is the time for our government to place trust in adults to make their own decisions, rather than condescendingly offering to counsel us.”

Last spring, when London Mayor Sadiq Khan began to feel the heat in his re-election campaign, he realized he needed to differentiate himself from Conservative challenger Shaun Bailey. So Khan announced that, if he were re-elected, he would examine the benefits of decriminalizing cannabis. 

On May 6, 2021, Khan handily defeated Bailey to win a second term. 

Nine months later, it has emerged that the second-term mayor, a high-profile Labour politician, is planning to divert young people caught with small amounts of marijuana in parts of London away from the criminal justice system and into traffic speeding course-style classes and counseling.

A leak of a report captured the news cycle in the UK on Tuesday; The Telegraph headlined a story claiming that Khan’s plan would effectively decriminalize cannabis in London. 

Is London really going to decriminalize cannabis?

London's mayor wants to try a drug diversion program for cannabis. But police leaders are resistant, and some drug policy reformers say it's too small a half-step. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Last spring, when London Mayor Sadiq Khan began to feel the heat in his re-election campaign, he realized he needed to differentiate himself from Conservative challenger Shaun Bailey. So Khan announced that, if he were re-elected, he would examine the benefits of decriminalizing cannabis. 

On May 6, 2021, Khan handily defeated Bailey to win a second term. 

Nine months later, it has emerged that the second-term mayor, a high-profile Labour politician, is planning to divert young people caught with small amounts of marijuana in parts of London away from the criminal justice system and into traffic speeding course-style classes and counseling.

A leak of a report captured the news cycle in the UK on Tuesday; The Telegraph headlined a story claiming that Khan’s plan would effectively decriminalize cannabis in London.

Khan’s team scrambled to clarify the mayor’s intentions. The plan, they said, was to roll out a limited three-district trial program for 18- to 24-year-olds. Such a program has yet to be approved by city hall and would be “robustly evaluated” before any capital-wide rollout. 

Under the early outlines of the proposal, the classroom-and-counseling outcome would be offered to those caught with less than 14 grams of cannabis (roughly half an ounce). It could be implemented as soon as May 2022 in the south east London boroughs of Lewisham, Bexley and Greenwich—which host some of the poorest neighborhoods in the capital.

“Reducing crime is the mayor’s top priority and he will continue to explore and implement the most effective solutions to help to divert young people away from drug use and crime for good,” a spokesperson for the mayor of London said, adding that Khan did not have the power to decriminalize. 

They added that the scheme—set in motion by the mayor of Lewisham, Damien Egan, who commissioned a report by the nonprofit drug reform organization Volteface—would provide help and support rather than punishment, and has been shown to reduce recidivism. Egan’s spokesperson told local media: “We know that we’ll never be able to simply arrest our way out of the problem.” 

What’s the problem, exactly?

But many people in the UK do not believe cannabis use is a serious problem. “Cannabis is seriously misunderstood in the UK, and this scheme doesn’t achieve anything and simply delays the inevitable legalisation process,” said Marwan Elgamal, founder of THC, a leading cannabis lifestyle brand, who has organized events at annual 4/20 celebrations in London’s Hyde Park, attended by tens of thousands. 

“The UK has the opportunity to introduce a process of labeling cannabis potency to help adults make informed choices, take billions out of the hands of criminals, and stop tarnishing people’s life opportunities while freeing up police resources,” Elgamal added. “Now is the time for our government to place trust in adults to make their own decisions, rather than condescendingly offering to counsel us.”RelatedHow Close is the United Kingdom to Legalizing Cannabis?

Commonly consumed, but still illegal

Cannabis is commonly smoked on the streets of London and is easily obtainable in parts of Camden, Hackney, Notting Hill, and elsewhere. Consumption is so common that it sometimes can feel like the plant is legal. Clandestine cannabis clubs, in fact, have been increasingly popping up in recent years. But regular police searches over suspected cannabis possession can swiftly deliver a dose of reality even while the number of recorded cannabis offenses in London has been declining year on year.

In September of 2020, the Independent Office for Police Conduct told the Metropolitan police, which covers London, that they desist stopping and searching people because of an alleged smell of cannabis in the vicinity. However, the justification is still used, leading to skepticism over whether the Met would enthusiastically adopt any diversion scheme.