Proposals for prisons to trial a free scheme providing cannabis to inmates to ascertain whether it reduces violence, overdose deaths and addiction to stronger drugs have been backed by the UK government’s former chief drug adviser. Prof David Nutt, from Imperial College London, said he was fully supportive of the idea and that he was considering a study on reducing prisoners’ drug dependence with cannabis in an ongoing trial. “The idea of drug testing in prisons was not at all thought through when it was introduced in 1996,” said Nutt, chair of DrugScience, which advocates for evidence-based drug policy. On Saturday, the Conservative and Labour candidates in May’s PCC elections for north Wales said they were opposed to the idea. However, Ann Griffith, Plaid Cymru’s candidate to succeed Jones, who is retiring, said a cannabis trial was “something I would be willing to cautiously explore” with criminal justice partners.

Source: The Guardian February 27, 2021 19:29 UTC