British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is preparing to override the views of his own expert advisers and tighten the law on cannabis, by upgrading the drug from a class C to a class B substance with a maximum jail sentence of five years for possession.

The advisory council was instructed to review the legislation on cannabis after alarm that super-strong varieties were becoming more popular and that cannabis was linked to schizophrenia, says a report in The Independent. Brown signalled then that he wanted the controls toughened, but faces embarrassment after the drugs experts and scientists reached the opposite conclusion. It is understood to have agreed that a link between heavy cannabis use and mental illness could not be proved and to have dismissed suggestions that the downgrading of the drug to a class C substance four years ago sent a confusing message to the public.
Full report in The Independent