My Lords, I refer the Minister to Dame Carol Black’s assertion that
“we can no longer, as a society, turn a blind eye to recreational drug use.”
Will the Minister make it very clear that the downgrading of cannabis—the making of cannabis legal—would send out a message that it is fine? But it is not fine for those millions of young people all over the country who get caught up with cannabis. It is a gateway drug, and the Government should not be thinking of doing anything like what the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, has suggested.