Being a Brit who smokes pot in Holland, I find the British looking at re-classifying cannabis quite funny.
I think I'm right in saying it's been this way in Holland for twenty years.
In research I did at University I found that British teenager were MORE likely to smoke pot on a regular basis than Dutch teenagers. More Dutch teenagers have experimented with pot, but it's not 'cool, illegal, edgey' or whatever; their DAD might smoke it, which is death to ALL conceptions of coolness, so it's just not as popular here.
Also, coffee shops allow a 'sanitised' environment for obtaining drugs. People can make good money running a coffee shop, and few are stupid enough to muck it up by stocking hard drugs.
This means your casual pot smokers don't get hit on by their dealer whose got some 'really nice speed' or whatever in stock, which is a typical method of progression from one drug to another.
Statistics show, for example, that Heroin users as a group in Holland are getting older, i.e. the AVERAGE age of heroin users is rising, as few new users join the ranks. This is probably in part due to the sanitisation of supply.
Now Britain, along with Belgium and Portugal, are joining Holland in NOT a more liberal attitude toward drugs, but a more pragmatic attitude toward drugs. You can't stop it; the USA's dumb War on Drugs (result, more drugs and cheaper drugs; let's hope the War on Terrorism is better fated) is proof of this as is the Prohibition period of the 20's and 30's. Of course, they make it sound lie they're inventing the wheel!!
I smoke pot regulary, have a life, have been promoted a few times in the past year or so. There are many people like me, both here in Holland, the UK, and the USA.
As with any drug, ABUSE (as distinct from USE) is a combination of internal factors and the nature of the drug. Most people abuse drugs because they need to abuse drugs; they already were a 'loser', or a 'wife beater' beforehand, and are using the drugs as pleasure instead of for pleasure. Alcohol is notorious for increasing aggresion, cannabis for inducing relaxation.
Just as a guy can go to the bar and have a few brews each day without ever abusing alcohol, so can a drug user USE their drugs without abusing them.
I've known one guy who got aggressive on pot, and I turn into a big cuddly kitten when I drink a lot of booze, but these individual experiences don't change the 'normal' results of taking certain substances.
Essentailly though, it's human rights. If I'm not harming another, I can do as I will.