How do you square your plans for a London Drugs Commission with the comments of the London MP for Holborn and St Pancras?

We know that drugs drive crime, violence and antisocial behaviour, and are damaging Londoners’ health. I have long said that we need a robust evidence base to inform practical policymaking on this important issue. It is time for fresh ideas to reduce the harms drugs and drug‑related crimes cause to individuals, families, and communities.

We are overdue for an evidence‑based review of experience and learning from across the world exploring how best we can reduce harms that drugs like cannabis can cause. That is why my London Drugs Commission will see independent experts from the fields of law, public health, criminal justice, and community relations examine the effectiveness of our drugs laws, with a particular focus on cannabis. I will ask the Commission to bring forward recommendations with the aim of helping to address violent and drug‑related crime, improve public health and help people recover from addiction. What the Commission will not do, however, is look at the classification of Class A drugs, which I am absolutely clear must remain illegal. On drugs like cannabis there are differing views and approaches, and we need to understand these to have a proper, grown‑up discussion about the way forward.

The former Conservative Party leader and Foreign Secretary, [the Rt Hon] William Hague, has written about the decriminalisation of drugs, as has the Conservative Chair of this Assembly, and the Prime Minister himself signalled the need for a new approach in the Government’s recent Drug Strategy. I have at no point pledged to decriminalise drugs but there is a debate to be had on approaches to the use of cannabis, and I think it is important that the Commission gathers the evidence that can inform the debate. We know, for example, that enforcement against the use of cannabis disproportionately criminalises young black men and we need to consider the impact this has on our communities.

This does not mean being soft on drugs. On the contrary, I will continue to fully support the police in targeting those causing harm to our communities. It is right to be cautious when considering approaches that will affect people’s lives and that is why I am establishing the Commission to gather all the evidence. I do not want to pre‑empt the recommendation of the Commission, and I hope this Assembly will be open to the evidence presented when the Commission reports back.

Mr Mayor, a third of psychosis cases in London are the result of smoking skunk [high‑potency cannabis], according to extensive research conducted by Sir Robin Murray, a Professor of Psychiatric Research at King’s College London. Do you accept this is a very dangerous thing that you are going to do?

I cannot see what you have against him giving evidence to the Commission. Why can people like him not present to the Commission what they are saying? What we have seen in the recent past, in the long‑distant past when it comes to issues around cannabis, is people having a small amount of cannabis in their possession being arrested, charged, prosecuted, and having a conviction that affects their life chances. Then, later on, they are caught again with a small amount of cannabis in their possession, arrested, charged, prosecuted, given another sentence, and convicted, and that cycle is repeated. I cannot see what anybody with any sense of reasonableness can have against going away to look at the evidence, hearing from the sorts of experts you are talking about ‑ and also hearing, indeed, from the Member himself with the strong‑held views he has ‑ and then coming back with a report with recommendations going forward.

I know a study from Oxford University has shown that weed increases the risk of depression in teenagers by 40%. This is a very dangerous road you are going down, Mr Mayor, and even your own Party leader seems to agree. Have you seen a letter from our old friend, former Assembly Member Bacon, now Gareth Bacon MP? Fifteen London MPs wrote to you on 11 January [2022] about this very serious route that you are going down.

I am sorry, those MPs did not write to complain about a Drugs Commission, which is the route I am going down.

They certainly did. I will send you the letter. I have it right in front of me.

I have seen the letter. The Drugs Commission is a sensible approach to this issue. By the way, the recent Drugs Strategy published by this Government, with the Prime Minister who is adored so much by some Members of the Assembly, said, and I quote,

“Those who are caught in possession of drugs for the first time may be required to attend a drugs awareness course, so they have the opportunity to understand the harms of drugs and change their behaviour.”

I would suggest those MPs write to their Prime Minister if they have a problem with the recent Drugs Strategy published by this Government.

Tony Devenish AM: I think, Mr Mayor, you are doing your usual and trying to take something the Government is doing and twist it. I will leave it there.

I am reading verbatim what they say.