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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Minister backing cannabis review | Minister backing cannabis review |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Scotland's drugs minister has said he is "sympathetic" to UK Government plans to upgrade cannabis to a class B drug. | Scotland's drugs minister has said he is "sympathetic" to UK Government plans to upgrade cannabis to a class B drug. |
| The SNP's Fergus Ewing - who was once suspended from school for smoking cannabis - is backing any future review to reclassify the substance. | The SNP's Fergus Ewing - who was once suspended from school for smoking cannabis - is backing any future review to reclassify the substance. |
| Gordon Brown wants the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to reconsider the downgrading of cannabis from a class B to a class C drug. | Gordon Brown wants the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to reconsider the downgrading of cannabis from a class B to a class C drug. |
| Any decision to reclassify cannabis rests with the Westminster government. | Any decision to reclassify cannabis rests with the Westminster government. |
| The drug was downgraded to class C - which includes substances such as anabolic steroids - from class B, which includes drugs like amphetamines, in 2004. | |
| But there are fears more harmful forms of the drug have become available. | But there are fears more harmful forms of the drug have become available. |
| Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing, who oversees drugs policy in Scotland, said he is "instinctively sympathetic" to cannabis being treated more seriously. | |
| As a teenager, Mr Ewing was suspended from Loretto School in Edinburgh for a fortnight after being caught taking the drug. | As a teenager, Mr Ewing was suspended from Loretto School in Edinburgh for a fortnight after being caught taking the drug. |
| He has said that he has not tried it since. | He has said that he has not tried it since. |
| Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop have also admitted experimenting with the drug in their youth. | Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop have also admitted experimenting with the drug in their youth. |
| At least six members of the UK cabinet, including Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, have made similar confessions. | At least six members of the UK cabinet, including Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, have made similar confessions. |