Ipsos MORI poll on cannabis

There is a new Ipsos MORI poll on attitudes towards cannabis here.

The answers appear somewhat contradictory - asked how cannabis should be classified the most popular response was that it should be a class A drug, supported by 32% of respondents. 26% thought it should be class B, 18% class C and 11% thought it should be legal.

While this seems to suggest support for much stricter regulation, it seems to be contradicted by the questions asking what the current punishment for possession of cannabis for personal use is, and should be. 70% of people thought the current penalty was up to 2 years, 18% longer and 12% didn't know. 0% thought there was no penalty (which does make one wonder about the 4% of people who thought that cannabis was legal, but still thought there might be a punishment for possessing it. Still, people give strange answers).

Asked what the penalty should be, support seems to be for liberalisation rather than for harsher punishments. 24% think the punishment should be up to 5 or up to 7 years. 41% think it should be up to 2 years, 27% think there should be no penalty.

I think the apparant contradiction is best explained by the definitions given to respondents of the three classifications. Rather than saying that class A was most serious, or that class A carried the highest penalties, they were told Class A were drugs like "Heroin and Ecstacy", Class B drugs like "Amphetamines and methylphenidate (Ritalin)" and Class C was drugs like "GHB (Gamma hydroxybutyrate) and Ketamine". Heroin and Ecstacy are obviously far more easily identified as illegal drugs, if you know Heroin and Ecstacy are illegal drugs, you don't know what the other 4 are, but you do know cannabis is also an illegal drug, where would you think it should fit?

Anyway, the recent media coverage of cannabis in connection with mental health problems seems to have become widely accepted amongst the public. An overwhelming 80% of respondents agreed what "cannabis use has associated mental health risks for users". 61% agreed that strains of cannabis had become stronger within the last 10 years. Only 25% agreed with the statement that cannabis use did not give rise to physical health problems.