Cannabis could be reclassified again

Cannabis could be turned back into a Class B drug, just three years after it was downgraded to class C.

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown told MPs a consultation would launched next week as part of a review of the country's entire drugs strategy.

The retreat from the 'softly softly approach' has been prompted by growing concerns about 'skunk' - a much stronger strain of cannabis, which has been linked to cases of serious mental illness.

The Home Office's own drugs advice website, Frank, admits that there is a recent trend towards stronger varieties of the drug.

Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke commissioned a review, but in January 2005 announced that cannabis would remain class C.

The Home Office spokesman said: "We will be asking the ACMD to review the classification of cannabis, given the increase in strength of some cannabis strains and their potential harms.

"It would be wrong to prejudge that review which shows how seriously we take our priority of reducing drug-related harm."

The Frank website says: "Recently, there have been various forms of herbal or grass-type cannabis that are generally found to be stronger than ordinary 'weed', containing on average two to three times the amount of the active compound, THC.

"These include sinsemilla (a bud grown in the absence of male plants and which has no seeds), homegrown, skunk (which has a particular strong smell) and netherweed."

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