As US pardons cannabis convictions Tories call for it to be classified the same as heroin

Atlantic rift widens on approach to drug laws

US president Joe Biden has pardoned cannabis convictions (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Tory police chiefs have called for cannabis to be classified the same as heroin – the same week US president Joe Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted of possessing the drug.

While the US has led the way in legalising cannabis the UK has cracked down harder than ever, with penalties of five years in prison on the books for simple possession.

But Conservative police and crime commissioners this week urged the government to go further and reclassify cannabis as a 'Class A' drug.