List of British politicians who have acknowledged cannabis use

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Colorful painting of five people standing in a stream retting hemp. A woman and child stand along the stream in the background. A pastoral setting surrounds the stream, with trees and bushes, a cottage, a blue sky, and fields of yellow and green.
The retting of raw hemp in a stream

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants with species that have long been used for fiber (hemp), for medicinal purposes, and as a drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber and minimal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive molecule that produces the "high" associated with cannabis as a drug.

Pre-prohibition

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cannabis may have been known in Britain as far back as the Bronze Age (ca. 2800 BP) when pieces of textiles and string were found at a site at St. Andrews in Scotland. Microscopic inspection showed that the fibres of these items appeared to have several different characteristics to those of flax.[1]

The first hard evidence of hemp in England are seeds that have been identified as cannabis sativa found in a Roman well in York.[2] Palynologists then find an increasing pollen curve in sediments, dating from the early Saxon period and peaking between 800 AD and 1200 AD.[3] Hemp cultivation was widespread and appears to have been concentrated around the coastal areas of Britain which would indicate its importance for making nets, sail-cloth and rope.[4]

However, to satisfy the increased demand for rope and sailcloth for King Henry VIII's new navy, he decreed (1533) that all landholders set aside one-quarter acre for the cultivation of flax or hemp for every sixty acres of land that they tilled in order to provide the necessary fibre. Queen Elizabeth I reintroduced the law (1563 AD) to expand her navy and imposes a £5 fine for any eligible landlord who failed to comply. From then on the demand increased and the hemp industry became very important to the British economy. Indeed, it was their need to improve the supply of this strategic raw commodity that come the 1630s the British sped up their colonization of the new world.[5]

Furthermore, cannabis also became an important medicine, there are even disputed claims that Queen Victoria took tincture of Cannabis to ease the pain of childbirth.[6]

Prior to prohibition, British politicians were known for growing or using cannabis.[citation needed]

Name Lifetime Highest position Party Ref.
David Urquhart 1805–1877 Member of Parliament Independent [7]
Parties

      Independent

Legislation

In order that Britain could ratify international treaties which it signed up to, it added tincture of cannabis to the list of drugs which already required an importation or exportation licence, granted by the Home Secretary. This took the form of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920.

Secondary legislation was introduced to ensure better standardization and quality of cannabis tincture. This was achieved by tight legislative control over sourcing the raw materials, processing and distribution. An effect of this control was to restrict the use of tincture to purposes that were strictly medical or scientific. Other forms of cannabis were not affected.

One of the regulations to maintain quality is briefly alluded to by Maud Grieve in her book A Modern Herbal, where she mentions in the section about Indian Hemp that "two-year-old ganja is almost inert, and the law requires it to be burnt in the presence of excise officers."[8]

Although the United States were not members of the League of Nations they put pressure on the 1925 Geneva Opium Conventions to include a complete ban on cannabis. Due to its importance as a medicine and its other industrial uses, this proposal was reduced to prohibiting the unlicensed possession of cannabis. Britain ratified this agreement by amending the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920 with the Dangerous Drugs Act 1925 which added some other of cannabis hitherto ignored. Namely, cannabis resin, cannabis oil (hash oil), cannabis leaf, flower-heads and the raw plant itself. However, whole seeds, seed oil (hemp oil) and fibre are not included. They can still be used for baiting fish, feeding birds, cooking, making strong ropes and high quality paper. In order that the government could avoid paying out compensation, enforcement of the act was delayed until 1928, thus giving people time to legitimately dispose of their stock which contravenes the new Bill.[9]

Following the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) the cultivation of cannabis ceased in the UK.

Cannabis tincture was finally removed from the British National Formulary in 1971 by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

During prohibition

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Mayor of London and former Member of Parliament
File:RuthKellyMP.jpg
The Right Honourable Ruth Kelly MP
The Right Honourable Hazel Blears MP
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman MP Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
Fiona Hyslop MSP Minister for Culture and External Affairs

Politicians that have admitted to recreational use following prohibition include, Members of Parliament, Home Secretaries and other Ministers, Peers, and Mayors.

Name Lifetime Highest position Party Ref.
Peter Ainsworth b. 1956 Shadow Secretary of State Conservative [10]
Baroness Ashton of Upholland b. 1956 High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy & Leader of the House of Lords Labour Party [11]
Hazel Blears b. 1956 Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Labour Party [12]
Andy Burnham b. 1970 Chief Secretary to the Treasury Labour Party [12]
Charles Clarke b. 1950 Home Secretary Labour Party [13]
Vernon Coaker b. 1953 Shadow Defence Secretary Labour Party [12]
James Cleverly b. 1969 Member of Parliament Conservative [14]
Yvette Cooper b. 1969 Shadow Home Secretary Labour Party [15]
Bruce Crawford b. 1955 Minister for Parliamentary Business Scottish Nationalists [16]
Alistair Darling b. 1953 Chancellor of the Exchequer Labour Party [12]
John Denham b. 1953 Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Labour Party [11]
Fergus Ewing b. 1957 Minister for Community Safety Scottish Nationalists [16]
Caroline Flint b. 1961 Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Labour Party [12]
Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde b. 1960 Leader of the House of Lords Conservative [10]
Harriet Harman b. 1950 Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Labour Party [12]
John Hutton b. 1955 Secretary of State for Defence Labour Party [12]
Fiona Hyslop b. 1964 Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Scottish Nationalists [16]
Bernard Jenkin b. 1959 Shadow Defence Secretary Conservative [10]
Boris Johnson b. 1964 Mayor of London Conservative [17]
Jon Owen Jones b. 1954 Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Welsh Office Labour Party [18]
Ruth Kelly b. 1968 Secretary of State for Education Labour Party [12]
Susan Kramer b. 1950 Minister of State for Transport Liberal Democrats [19]
Norman Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick b. 1942 Chancellor of the Exchequer Conservative [20]
Oliver Letwin b. 1956 Minister of State for Policy Conservative [10]
Tricia Marwick b. 1953 Member of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Scottish Nationalists [16]
Tony McNulty b. 1958 Minister of State for Work and Pensions Labour Party [12]
Francis Maude b. 1953 Minister for the Cabinet Office Conservative [10]
Stewart Maxwell b. 1963 Minister for Communities and Sport Scottish Nationalists [16]
Mo Mowlam b. 1949 Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Labour Party [19]
Archie Norman b. 1954 Former member of the shadow cabinet Conservative [10]
Shona Robison b. 1966 Minister for Public Health and Sport Scottish Nationalists [16]
Jacqui Smith b. 1962 Home Secretary Labour Party [12]
Nicola Sturgeon b. 1970 First Minister of Scotland Scottish Nationalists [16]
Matthew Taylor b. 1963 Former Shadow Minister for Social Exclusion, Cabinet Office Liberal Democrats [19]
Chuka Umunna b. 1978 Member of Parliament Labour Party [21]
David Willetts b. 1956 Member of Parliament Conservative [10]
Tim Yeo b. 1945 Shadow Secretary of State Conservative [10]
Parties
      Labour       Conservative       Liberal Democrats       Scottish Nationalists
David Cameron PM

David Cameron, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party, does not appear on the above list because he has not clearly communicated whether he has used cannabis but he has clearly stated that he is “not issuing denials” about the stories on the front pages of several national newspapers claiming that he had. He did however, while Leader of the Opposition, say, that he supports the legalisation of medical cannabis.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Deitch, Robert (2003) Hemp: American history revisited: the plant with a divided history. page 12. Algora Publishing. Accessed 2010-01-16
  6. ↑ A pharmacy of her own: Victorian women and the figure of the opiate by Aikens, Kristina, Ph.D., TUFTS UNIVERSITY, 2008, 276 pages; 3304089
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Reuters UK (Sat Feb 10, 2007). Cameron smoked cannabis in youth – papers. Accessed 2009-01-18
  23. ↑ Reuters UK (Sun Feb 11, 2007). UK opposition chief won't deny he smoked cannabis. Accessed 2009-01-18
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