The Home Office has stepped in to slap down Sadiq Khan after he backed a "ridiculous" plan to decriminalise a class B drug.
Khan's London Drugs Commission has recommended that possessing "personal use" quantities of cannabis should not be a criminal offence, prompting Yvette Cooper's department to vow it has "no intention" of changing the law.
The Mayor's commission, chaired by ex-Justice Secretary Lord Falconer, warned that "cannabis laws have been used to stop and search black communities disproportionately" and enforcing the law "damages... police-community relations".
"The current sentencing for those caught in possession of natural cannabis cannot be justified," it adds.
Yvette Cooper's department vowed it has 'no intention' of changing the law
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City Hall Tory leader Susan Hall, following the recommendations, told GB News Khan should "get a grip on London's real needs" rather than "pushing a drug".
"In the midst of a crime wave, as our streets become more and more antisocial, the Mayor's bright idea is to add the stink of cannabis into the mix - legally," she said.
"How he expects officers to differentiate between legal and illegal amounts on the spot is beyond me, and that's before you consider what else someone might be carrying.
"He talks a big game about mental health and here he is pushing a drug that we know makes it far worse.
"Simply ridiculous pie-in-the-sky ideas from a man who cannot get a grip on London's real needs."
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Khan's London Drugs Commission has recommended that possessing 'personal use' quantities of cannabis should not be a criminal offence
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Hall was later joined by fellow Tories Lord Frost and Nick Timothy in speaking out on Sadiq Khan's call to decriminalise cannabis.
Timothy, the former Theresa May-adviser-turned-firebrand MP, said: "This guy will do literally anything other than the job he is elected to do.
"And if it means being even softer on crime than he is, then apparently so much the better."
While ex-Brexit negotiator Frost blasted: "Time to point out the obvious, which is that in large parts of London, cannabis already IS effectively decriminalised.
Susan Hall told GB News that the Mayor should 'get a grip on London's real needs' rather than 'pushing a drug'
PA"Near me, and elsewhere, it is smoked and traded with apparent impunity.
"It is what contributes to the sense in many parts of London that the authorities aren't really interested in enforcing the law and indeed aren't really in charge."
The Home Office said: "We will continue to work with partners across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use, ensure more people receive timely treatment and support, and make our streets and communities safer.
"We have no intention of reclassifying cannabis from a class B substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act."
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