Tim Farron confronted by LBC caller whose brother died from cannabis over plans to legalise the drug

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has been confronted by a bereaved woman who said his party’s plans to legalise cannabis have lost him her vote.

Mr Farron was forced to defend his position on the legalisation of the drug during an appearance on LBC radio’s ‘Leaders Live’.

As he answered questions from voters, one caller called Lucy from Reigate, said: “I was going to vote for you until you wanted to legalise cannabis.”

As the Lib Dem leader outlined the reasons for his party’s manifesto pledge, he said they had carried out a study that found the best way to protect vulnerable people, prevent them moving from cannabis to ‘harder’ substances and to damage the criminal gangs profiting from the sale of the drug, was to regulate it.

He admitted the policy was “unpopular to some people”, “controversial to many people” and “a risky position for us to take” but said he believed it was the best way forward.

Lucy was unconvinced, telling the politician: “Right, you want to see my brother-in-law’s grave in Amsterdam. Because he went on cannabis, he developed schizophrenia. He’s dead now. That’s because you can just buy it.

“Don’t legalise it, it’s just going to make things worse.”

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Mr Farron shared his condolences for Lucy’s loss, but said while the UK would not necessarily follow the Dutch model, in his view the evidence suggested that regulating cannabis would “massively reduce” the chances of people going on to harder substances and prevent people being able to use strains of cannabis linked to psychosis.

“It’s easy to pillory what the Liberal Democrats have said and say, ‘drugs are bad, therefore you shouldn’t regulate it’,” he said. “Actually, if drugs are damaging you should do whatever it takes to minimise harm and maximise the damage to the criminal gangs.

“So yes, it’s a controversial decision to take but it’s based on evidence and based on my passionate desire as a dad, as someone who has seen others suffer as a consequence of drug addiction and abuse.

“I want to do something that will make things better, so it’s a brave thing to do, but it’s a wise thing to do.”