STING LEADS CAMPAIGN AGAINST BLAIR'S PLAN TO RECLASSIFY CANNABIS

The singer Sting and the veteran actress Jean Simmons are on a list of
prominent figures who have written to Tony Blair urging him to keep
cannabis as a class C drug following last week's exclusive report in
The Independent on Sunday that the Prime Minister was planning a
U-turn to toughen up penalties for its use.

The governor of Brixton prison, former Spandau Ballet member Gary Kemp
and Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat MP, as well as doctors and drug
experts have also signed a letter warning against a toughening-up of
policy on the drug, which was officially downgraded last January. They
are backing a campaign by Release, which provides support for people
with drug problems, to keep cannabis in a lower category.

Last week, the IoS reported that drugs advisers had established a link
between mental illness and cannabis use. The Advisory Council on the
Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is understood to have concluded there is a risk
of psychosis in some cases, although the health risks do not justify
cannabis being moved back to class B.

The Government is expected to make an official announcement next month
on the future status of the drug, although sources have indicated Mr
Blair is keen to reverse the decision to downgrade it taken by David
Blunkett.

Release has written to the Prime Minister as well as Charles Clarke,
the Home Secretary, urging them not to return cannabis to class B. A
copy of the letter, seen by this paper, highlights the fact that
cannabis use in Britain has not increased in the first year since
reclassification and that nearly 200,000 hours of police time have
been saved. It states: "Such a move would simply add to public
confusion, inconsistency and the waste of police resources, without
delivering any health or social benefits."