cannabisnews.com: Arrests for Cannabis Use are To End Arrests for Cannabis Use are To End Posted by FoM on October 23, 2001 at 17:39:58 PT By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Source: Daily Telegraph Possessing cannabis will no longer be an arrestable offence after a reversal of Government policy made public last night by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary. Cannabis is to be recategorised early in the New Year from a Class B drug to Class C, putting it on a par with anabolic steroids and anti-depressants such as Temazepam. While possession will still be illegal, penalties will be much lower - with a maximum of two years' jail - and most users caught by police will get away with nothing worse than a warning. It is only a few months since the Government emphatically rejected recommendations from the Police Foundation that cannabis should be given a lower classification.However, Mr Blunkett said the change - which needs to be approved by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs - should be made in the interests of "consistency and credibility".He also said the Government would allow cannabis to be used for medical purposes once successful clinical trials have been completed.MS sufferers welcomed the proposals. The drug has long been said to alleviate pain among those with multiple sclerosis and is the subject of a nationwide trial.Kate Bradley, of Telford, Shropshire, was diagnosed in 1991 and said she regularly had to go on to the streets to find dealers. Mrs Bradley, who is in her 50s, said: "This is a very big step forward and welcome news. "Cannabis is the most effective pain reliever and meaning I may not be arrested for having it takes enormous pressure off my mind." Mr Blunkett also announced plans to extend the prescribing of heroin by doctors to thousands of registered addicts.Mr Blunkett said the new strategy would run in parallel with much tougher police activity against dealers in hard drugs and alongside an education programme to raise awareness among young people of the dangers of heroin and cocaine."We need to warn young people that all drugs are dangerous but Class A drugs are the most harmful," he told the Commons home affairs select committee. Mr Blunkett said reclassifying cannabis would "be quite different from decriminalisation or legislation".He added: "Cannabis would remain a controlled drug and using it a criminal offence. It would not detract from the simple message that all drugs are harmful and no one should take drugs. But it would make clear the distinction between cannabis and Class A drugs like heroin and cocaine."The change will mean that people using cannabis cannot be arrested, though the drug could be confiscated and a formal warning issued. Such a system has been operated in Lambeth, south London, for several months.Police will be consulted over developing a consistent approach. They could follow the London model of confiscation combined with a warning; or they could issue summonses that would result in a criminal conviction. Supplying the drug will remain an arrestable offence.Sir John Stevens, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, welcomed the change: "It is sensible to target our resources against dealers."However, Peter Lilley, the former Tory Cabinet minister who earlier this year called for the decriminalisation of cannabis, said Mr Blunkett had not gone far enough."As long as it remains illegal and can only be obtained from criminal sources, then users - mainly young people - are being exposed to the pushers of hard drugs."Mike Goodman, director of Release, a national drug and alcohol advice charity, said society had finally grown up. "I think this is the first step towards decriminalisation."Related Article:Cannabis and The LawDavid Blunkett yesterday made his first modest gesture towards individual freedom since becoming Home Secretary, when he moved to reclassify cannabis as a Class C drug.This is like water in the desert. It is disappointing, though, that the Government's incremental moves towards liberalising the drugs climate are so timid. Like an earlier, localised initiative in Brixton, south London, where police were instructed not to arrest anyone carrying small quantities of cannabis, this proposal is somewhat contradictory and inadequate.Under the changes laid out yesterday, cannabis would remain an illegal drug, but the penalties for possessing it would become so trivial that it would no longer be an arrestable offence. With cannabis accounting for more than two thirds of drug arrests, the reclassification should do wonders for the crime figures, one reason, perhaps, why the reform has been welcomed by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens. However, decriminalising cannabis use in practice but not in law would leave the supply of the drug in the hands of the criminal gangs that currently enjoy such a lucrative monopoly.When The Daily Telegraph in March last year called on the Government to experiment with the legalisation of cannabis as a means of challenging the rhetorical fatuities of the "War on Drugs", we knew we were moving against the controlling instincts of New Labour. We had to accept, too, that some conservatives would oppose our position, believing - quite wrongly, as it happens - that we somehow thought rolling a joint was a good idea. Recategorising cannabis has the enormous advantage of separating it in the public mind - and especially in the minds of those between 18 and 25 - from obviously dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine. The separation should help break down young people's attraction to the wider drugs culture.Mr Blunkett has now signalled that he believes cannabis to be a substance no more or less potentially harmful than other Class C drugs, which include steroids and anti-depressants. The overwhelming body of medical opinion suggests that this assessment is about right: reckless or excessive use of any of these substances is certainly hazardous, while modest use is unlikely to prove unacceptably harmful.Underpinning our Free Country campaign has been the presumption that individuals should be allowed to do what they want unless Parliament can show an overwhelming need to impose laws to control us. Mr Blunkett is to be congratulated on venturing into this debate on drugs and the law, territory many of his colleagues have found too inhospitable to enter. But now he should show he has confidence in his assessment that cannabis is not an unacceptably dangerous substance, and have the courage to take the next logical step forward by legalising the drug for an experimental period. Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)Author: Philip Johnston, Home Affairs EditorPublished: October 24, 2001Copyright: 2001 Telegraph Group LimitedContact: dtletters telegraph.co.ukWebsite: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Related Articles:Blunkett Softens on Cannabis http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11156.shtmlCannabis Campaigners Call for More Reformhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11155.shtmlQ & A: Cannabis Reclassificationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11153.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment