Britain's potheads can today roll a celebratory spliff at the news the home secretary, Charles Clarke, has decided against reversing the downgrading of cannabis.
Instead they will be treated to a government campaign to educate the public about the drug's legal status (yes, it's still illegal) and the potential risk it poses to mental health. Hopefully it will be more effective than the much derided drugs education campaign Talk to Frank.
The home secretary ordered a review of the 2004 reclassification of cannabis, which saw it downgraded from a class B to a class C drug, following a series of studies that linked its use to schizophrenia. Majorie Wallace, director of the mental health charity SANE, was particular vocal in her opposition to the drug's reclassification, arguing that newer varieties such as skunk were more potent than those smoked in the 60s.
But the Void blog today complains her claim that 10% of cannabis users will have a psychotic breakdown is "unscientific drivel" reminiscent of the cult propaganda film Reefer Madness.
Indeed, as the Guardian reported this week, the government's Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs concluded that cannabis poses little risk to people's health and there was no evidence that its potency had significantly increased in the past decade.
