United Kingdom: if elected, the Liberal Democrat party will legalize cannabis

The British will head to the polls on June 8 to elect a new Parliament. As part of these general elections, one of the United Kingdom’s major political parties—the Liberal Democrats, led by MP Tim Farron—revealed in a manifesto on Friday that it plans to legalize cannabis if elected.

The Liberal Democrats pointed out that cannabis is «already widely available and used in the United Kingdom» and that regulating its use rather than banning it makes more sense. Furthermore, they point out that British police spend «one million hours each year enforcing the cannabis ban,» a considerable waste of time and money. They also believe that legalization would be an effective way to eliminate cannabis-related trafficking by criminal gangs.

In England, cannabis is Level B of the legal classification of drugs since Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971. British law stipulates that possession of cannabis is punishable by five years in prison, although this penalty is rarely enforced.

In an interview with BuzzFeed, The Liberal Democrat candidate for Cambridge, Julian Huppert, stated that «the cannabis market is run by criminal gangs, and they have absolutely no interest in public health.» The party emphasizes that once cannabis is legalized, the THC content can be reduced in favor of a higher CBD content. «There is a component in cannabis that criminals do not produce in their plants, which explains why cannabis is more harmful than it used to be,» explains Julian Huppert.

If the Liberal Democrats are elected on June 8, cannabis could become legal and available in the United Kingdom. This legalization would apply to people aged 18 and older, and sales would be strictly regulated. The party estimates that this measure will generate more than one billion pounds in tax revenue per year.

Mehdi Bautier