British prime minister Tony Blair spoke yesterday of his growing concern about the dangers of cannabis, raising speculation that he would like to see the drug's controversial reclassification reversed.
Speaking to a group of concerned parents during a general election event in Lancashire, Mr Blair said there was increasing medical evidence that cannabis was not as harmless as people made out.
He also warned that youngsters who smoked cannabis could move on to harder drugs.
Earlier this year home secretary Charles Clarke commissioned the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs to investigate whether new medical evidence linking cannabis use to long-term mental problems had implications for the decision to downgrade it from class B to the less serious class C.
Its report is due after tomorrow's election.
The change - introduced by Mr Clarke's predecessor David Blunkett - came into effect at the start of last year and put cannabis on the same level as some prescription anti-depressants and steroids. Possession of the drug is no longer normally an arrestable offence. - (PA)