Sajid Javid launches review of medicinal cannabis but dismisses William Hague's calls to legalise the 'harmful' drug

Sajid Javid has announced the Government will review the rules on medicinal cannabis which could allow doctors to prescribe it in the UK. 

The Home Secretary announced Dame Sally Davies will look into whether the drug should be rescheduled to allow its use on medical grounds after a number of high-profile cases highlighted how much it can help children with epilepsy. 

However, speaking in the Commons Mr Javid warned the shift would not lead to legalisation of cannabis for recreational use, despite calls from former party leader Lord Hague to do so, because it is harmful and can damage users’ “mental and physical health”.

"I do not agree with Lord Hague", he told MPs.

The announcement follows a decision on Monday to set up an expert panel to advise ministers on whether specific licenses should be granted on a case by case basis. 

It comes after Lord Hague, who as party leader maintained a “zero tolerance” approach to drugs, said that the battle to drive down cannabis use had been “comprehensively and irreversibly lost”, as he called on Theresa May to introduce a “major change” in policy.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, Lord Hague said the Prime Minister should follow in the footsteps of Canada, which is on the verge of legalising the drug for recreational use.

Whilst a growing number of Tory MPs support decriminalisation, Mrs May and Sajid Javid are believed to be strongly opposed to the idea.

On Tuesday morning, the Home Office released a statement on its website headed “Rebuttal: Lord Hague op-ed in The Daily Telegraph”, in which it claimed there was “strong scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug”.

The statement added: “The Government has no intention of reviewing the classification of cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and it will remain a Class B drug.

“Any debate within government about the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of cannabis based medicines does not extend to any review regarding the classification of cannabis and the penalties for the illicit possession, cultivation and trafficking of cannabis will remain the same.

It comes as Mrs May faces growing political pressure to review the law after a raft of MPs joined Lord Hague in calling for reform.

On Monday fellow Tory Crispin Blunt, who chairs the All-Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform, urged the Home Office to "clear out of the way" and let the Department of Health take control of policy on medical cannabis.

His comments were echoed by Zac Goldsmith, the former Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, who said he supported Lord Hague’s remarks.

Meanwhile, Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, said that the drug should be legalised on “public health grounds”, as he pointed to Portugal’s drug policy as evidence that the negative impacts of cannabis use were “unlikely to rise” if it were decriminalised.

Mrs May said that whilst it was right to review the current system for medicinal use, she remained opposed to any change which would legalise it for recreational use.

"There's a very good reason why we've got a set of rules around cannabis and other drugs, because of the impact that they have on people's lives, and we must never forget that,” she added.

What is the UK's view on cannabis?

The law's approach to cannabis in the UK has wavered in recent years with the drug being downgraded to the less harmful Category C classification in 2004 before being upgraded to Category B again in 2009.

Polling from YouGov at the end of May showed that a majority of British adults would support a softening in the law. As many as 24 per cent of people want cannabis decriminalised while 27 per cent would go as far as legalising it.

Younger generations take a more liberal view towards the drug with fewer than one in five people aged 18-24 wanting to keep it criminalised, compared to 54 per cent of people aged 65+.

The UK's apparently liberal take on cannabis is probably influenced by the fact that people perceive it to be less harmful than other drugs, including alcohol and tobacco.

62 per cent of British adults told YouGov they thought cannabis was harmful to people who take it regularly, whereas 82 per cent answered in the same way about tobacco.

Again, younger people were far less concerned about the risks posed by cannabis with just 40 per cent saying it was harmful.