Newly appointed SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon gestures to the audience during her speech at the annual party conference at Perth Concert Hall, Scotland.

SNP To Vote On MMJ Laws

In May of 2016 Nicola Sturgeon backed calls for relaxing the laws on Cannabis use in “specific cases” of people with conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis. She made clear at the time she is not in favour of decriminalising for recreational use as it causes harm. She said “Cannabis is not a harmless substance. I am not in favour of general decriminalisation but I do think there is a specific case for medicinal use.”  Now it’s been announced that the SNP will be holding a vote at its Autumn conference, which takes place between the 13th and 15th October 2016. The vote will decide if the NHS should offer Medical Marijuana on prescription.

Independent Rules

Scotland has its own devolved parliament allowing it to create new laws independent of the UKs main chamber based in London. Westminster still controls the law that criminalises drugs in the UK but Health Policy is controlled by Holyrood. This could be good news for the rest of the UK too. Where Scotland leads the rest of the UK tends to follow. In the last few years Scotland were the first to implement the no smoking in Public Houses policy and a few years later England and Wales followed suit. They also introduced the carrier bag charge scheme before the rest of the UK put it into law in 2015.

The Rest Of The UK?

This is a story to follow closely, if it passes then it will give the UK government the kick it needs to follow suit. With a group of MPs writing to the government demanding that MMJ is considered, there is finally a glimmer of hope for everyone who has been advocating this move. This is particularly important, in recent years the government experts tasked with making recommendations have been ignored, it’s not so long ago Professor Nutt was fired for making such bold claims as Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes.