Labour will not legalise cannabis if they come to power, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has said.
In an interview with The House magazine, she said that legalising cannabis was not the answer in the ‘war on drugs’.
Her comments come as fellow Labour MP Paul Flynn brought a Private Member’s Bill to legalise medicinal cannabis before Parliament on Friday.
‘U-turn’
Abbott called for a new approach to drugs policy in Britain and particularly championed treatment for drug addicts.
But the MP for Hackney stated that her party do not plan to push for the decriminalisation of cannabis, however, saying: “It is not Labour’s policy to legalise cannabis for recreational purposes”.
Jeremy Corbyn has previously backed the legalisation of medicinal cannabis, but when asked about Mr Flynn’s efforts to do so, Abbott said, “at this point we are not in favour of legalising cannabis for any purpose. I don’t envisage us changing our position.”
Green Party
In contrast, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas called for decriminalisation at the Green Party spring conference on Saturday.
Speaking to The Independent ahead of the conference, she claimed the current prohibition on harmful drugs had caused a “free for all” and said Britain should move towards “the safety of regulation” instead.
Mr Flynn’s Private Member’s Bill failed when it ran out of time for debate.