By: skamikaze<\/p>\n
The official body which advises the government on drugs policy has decided that cannabis should remain a Class C drug, the BBC understands. <\/strong> <\/p>\n The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ decision would appear to go against the view of Gordon Brown, who favours returning the drug to Class B. <\/p>\n The government asked the council to review cannabis’s legal status, amid concerns over stronger forms of it. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The council refused to confirm or deny a decision. <\/p>\n Chairman Professor Sir Michael Rawlins said a report would be sent to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith this month. <\/p>\n University study<\/strong> <\/p>\n BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the decision was taken at a private meeting of the council, which discussed some significant new research from Keele University about links between cannabis and mental illness. <\/p>\n The study found nothing to support a theory that rising cannabis use in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s led to increases in the incidence of schizophrenia later on. <\/p>\n The Advisory Council’s decision leaves the government in an awkward position, our correspondent adds. <\/p>\n Gordon Brown has indicated he favours transferring cannabis back to Class B to send a message about the dangers of the drug. <\/p>\n If the government does reclassify, it would be rejecting the findings of the Advisory Council’s panel of 23 drug experts, which has never happened before on a decision about drug classification.<\/p>\n