cannabisnews.com: British Move To Reclassify Cannabis as Class C





British Move To Reclassify Cannabis as Class C
Posted by FoM on November 05, 2001 at 07:52:32 PT
By Colette Keane
Source: Irish Examiner 
Moves in Britain to strike a balance and a modicum of common sense in policing the drugs world has sparked a wave of anti-drug protests and fallen short of the demands of the pro-cannabis lobby.In a nutshell, Britain has proposed to reclassify cannabis from a B-Class to a C-Class drug. This does not legalise cannabis, but it removes the option of arrest from police officers faced with someone possessing the drug for personal use.
Any cannabis found on someone will still be confiscated and police will still be able to warn, caution or issue a summons to anyone found in possession of the illegal substance. The easing of attitude to personal users of the drug will not be extended to traffickers or suppliers, who will still face the full rigours of the law.The Home Secretary David Blunkett said the move to reclassify the drug would free up police and allow them to concentrate on tackling more dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.In 1999, British police recorded 120,000 drug arrests. Of these, 68% were related to cannabis, each arrest taking an officer between two and three hours to process, even though most arrests only resulted in fines.This high volume of arrests associated with cannabis is despite the British Government's repeated stated policy it wants the police force to concentrate on stamping out harder and more dangerous drugs like heroine, cocaine and crack cocaine.Giving evidence last month to the Home Affairs Select Committee Mr Blunkett stressed the need to warn young people all drugs, including cannabis, are dangerous. But he said there was a clear need to focus more effectively on hard drugs.He is currently seeking advice from scientific and medical experts on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on their assessment of the arguments for re-classifying cannabis from Class B to Class C. He stressed reclassification is quite different from decriminalisation or legalisation and cannabis would remain a controlled drug and using it would still be a criminal offence.Mr Blunkett also confirmed, subject to the satisfactory outcome of phase three of the clinical trials currently being carried out, he would approve a change to the law to enable the prescription of cannabis-based medicine. He said contrary to people's perceptions, drug use by young people is not rising overall and the number of 16-19 year olds using drugs in Britain last year actually fell.However, he said the real area of concern is the increasing numbers of young people using cocaine."We need to warn young people all drugs are dangerous, but Class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine are the most harmful. We will only be successful at delivering this message if our policy as a whole is balanced and credible."A quarter of a million lives are being destroyed by hard drugs and the cost to the criminal justice system amounts to £1.2bn."In spite of our focus on hard drugs, the majority of police time is currently spent on handling cannabis offences. It is time for an honest and common sense approach focusing on drugs that cause most harm.He confirmed the Government will be targeting dealers and their profits, to hit the middle men who are the essential link between the drug traffickers and the street dealers.The report from the ACMD is due in December, and Mr Blunkett is expected to announce his decision as early as February.Complete Title: British Move To Reclassify Cannabis as Class C DrugSource: Irish Examiner (Ireland)Author: Colette KeanePublished: November 5, 2001Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 2001Website: http://www.examiner.ie/Contact: exam_letters examiner.ieRelated Articles:Bill To Legalise Cannabis Goes Up in Smoke http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11202.shtmlDavid Blunkett - An Authoritarian Inhaleshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11200.shtmlCampaigners Applaud Cannabis Reform http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11177.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by TroutMask on November 05, 2001 at 08:08:41 PT
Canada
FYI: The Canadian Supreme Court will be hearing arguments over the next two weeks to determine whether the Canadian government's licensing scheme for medical marijuana complies with last year's ruling that Canadian marijuana laws are unconstitutional. If the court finds that the government didn't go far enough to protect the sick, marijuana may become completely legal by default.Fingers crossed...http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MedPot/message/225-TM
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