Growing cannabis in your own home should not be a criminal offence, says university professor

'Six plants per person is acceptable'

University professor Alex Stevens said people should not be punished for what they will do anyway

He also advised student on cannabis use, telling them to 'be careful'

A professor at a top British university has called for a decriminalisation of growing cannabis, saying six plants per person is an ‘acceptable amount’.

Alex Stevens, an expert on criminal justice at the University of Kent, said possession of the drug and cultivating cannabis plants for personal use, should not be a criminal offence.

He said he did not want to harm people for ‘things they are going to do anyway’.

Legalise it: Professor Alex Stevens at the University of Kent said six cannabis plants per person for anyone over 18 in the UK is 'acceptable'

Professor Stevens also gave advice to students on using cannabis saying they need to inform themselves and be careful prior to taking the drug due to legal consequences.

The deputy head of the University of Kent at Medway’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research refuted a ‘commercialisation’ of the drug and said he would not want to see advertisements for cannabis if it was legalised.

‘We should be moving towards progressive decriminalisation. We should be seeking to reform our drug laws to make them less harmful,’ Professor Stevens said in an interview with student paper The Medwire.

‘One way of doing that would be to start by decriminalising the personal possession of cannabis and also the production of small amounts of cannabis in people’s own homes.’

Good growth: An industrial sized Cannabis plant seized in Ireland earlier this week

'Be careful': Professor Stevens instructed students to take care when using cannabis asking them to consider health and legal consequences

Prof. Stevens then went as far as to give advice to students at the University of Kent on using cannabis.

‘They need to be careful about what they are doing and they need to inform themselves on the legal and health consequences of their actions,’ he told the 19-year-old reporter.

‘They are opening themselves up for prosecution, for production, and if they are passing drugs to their friends, they are opening themselves up for supply offences.’

According to professor Stevens, decriminalisation would not lead to an increase in usage, citing research from Portugal and Spain.

‘It seems to make no real difference to the levels of use of cannabis.

‘What would make a difference to the levels is if it was being commercially promoted and that is something I would not want to see.’

The University of Kent is ranked 22nd in the UK in the Guardian newspaper’s University League Table.