Minister backing cannabis review

Cannabis was downgraded to a class C drug in 2004

Scotland's drugs minister has said he is "sympathetic" to UK Government plans to upgrade cannabis to a class B drug.

Fergus Ewing - who was once suspended from school for smoking cannabis - has backed 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.

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.

Drugs policy

However, there are fears more harmful forms of the drug have become available.

Community Safety Minister Mr Ewing, who oversees drugs policy in Scotland, said he was "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.

He 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.

At least six members of the UK cabinet, including Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, have made similar disclosures.