Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policy of the recommendation of the World Health Organisation's Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) that cannabis and cannabis resin be deleted from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs; and whether the Government plans to vote in accordance with the recommendation of the ECDD.

The Government are considering the full implications of all the recommendations of World Health Organisation's Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) on cannabis and cannabis related-substances.

The recommendation to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, appears to broadly align with the recent domestic legislative changes on the rescheduling of cannabis-based products for medicinal use.

We are however engaging with our international partners, including the WHO ECDD Secretariat and other Member States, so as to fully understand the evidence base and methodology for the recommendations in order to inform our position.