Politics and law The UKCIA law library The main laws and treaties governing cannabis in the UK. Please note this information is given in good faith, but may be out of date. Cannabis 'crime' statistics Recent statistics detailing the enforcement of the laws on cannabis Your rights on arrest A brief guide to your legal rights upon arrest and how to behave Early Day Motions Cannabis related EDMs from the House of Commons. Does your MP support them? Minutes of evidence taken before the Select Committeeon Science and Technology 7th February 2001 How to deal with the issue of medical cannabis use - Charles Clarke answers questions ACPO cannabis enforcement guidlines Sept 2003 Police guidlines on cannabis enforcement following reclassification Do it yourself politics Complain For a guide on writing letters Vote for me! You don't just have the choice of the four major parties, you can stand for election yourself. How to stand for parliament Get on TV Use that 20 second soundbite Forum Tell us what you think on our forum A clock somewhere in London with a cannabis plant beside it. Sorry, can't say where So why is cannabis still illegal anyway? Up till now, Cannabis has remained illegal for a number of reasons. Firstly in the moral climate professional people found it hard to speak out in case they become associated with drug use and it affected their career. This was especially hard for politicians who feared tabloid outrage and loss of votes. This was the situation for years but which came to an abrupt end during the Conservative Party conference in Autumn 2000, when the then shadow home secretary, Ann Widdecombe, stood up for her keynote speech which centered around a "clampdown on Cannabis". The speech was torn apart by the media and the police as being out of touch with reality, which it was. The following days saw politician after politician admit they'd used cannabis, things would never be the same again and the threat of a clampdown was kicked into the long grass. However, there are a number of people who campaign and lobby politicians against cannabis and in recent years the prohibition lobby has been working overtime to regain lost ground. These people may have vested interests in keeping cannabis illegal, such as brewers, drug squad officers, cotton growers, pharmaceutical companies or the criminal suppliers or they may just be loonies. There are also people with honest motives who attack cannabis such as religious moralists, people who have overcome their drug problems and the people who work with them who generally believe that prohibition is in some way "correct". In any case, the debate is still going on. The situation is slowly changing for the better though. At one time the number of people arguing for change was very small, now the calls are coming from a wider and wider range of people and organisations, not least of all from some senior police officers. The times, they are a-changing, with your help, they'll change even quicker! Page designed and maintained by UKCIA