cannabisnews.com: 400 Cannabis Users Go Free





400 Cannabis Users Go Free
Posted by FoM on January 02, 2002 at 08:47:53 PT
By Philip Nettleton
Source: Evening Standard
More than 400 drug users have escaped prosecution for possessing cannabis in the first six months of a pilot scheme in Brixton, Scotland Yard reveals today. The initiative, which has now been extended until spring, is estimated to have saved 2,000 hours of police time freeing officers to concentrate on arrests for crack and heroin supply. It has also saved potential court costs of £4million. 
From July to November 2000, 278 people were arrested for possession in Lambeth. In the same period last year, 381 were cautioned for possessing the drug, rising to an expected 400 by the end of December. However, some officers are concerned that there is still too much paperwork involved in the caution and confiscation process. Outside forces have also warned that cautions may allow dealers off the hook because searches of home addresses, where more evidence of abuse may be found, are not carried out. Lambeth police Commander Brian Paddick said today the scheme is proving a success but needs some modifications. He added that officers are still seeking advice as to when to make arrests. Senior figures at the Yard were initially sceptical about the initiative which was Commander Paddick's own idea, and Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens is monitoring the situation. The extension of the initiative until spring is expected to be followed by Home Secretary David Blunkett announcing that cannabis is being downgraded from a Class B drug to Class C alongside steroids and sleeping pills. This means anyone caught in the street with a small amount of the drug will not be arrested. Over the next two months, the results of the initiative will be evaluated by specialist Metropolitan police consultants, academics and the Police Foundation. Frontline officers will be interviewed for their opinions. Mr Paddick said: "I think it's been successful because now officers can deal with cannabis quicker and get back on the streets, placing the emphasis on aiming to arrest people for crack cocaine." The experiment has been widely interpreted as police taking a softer line on people caught in possession. Mr Paddick has argued that the penalty for people caught with the drug is now more direct: although they are less likely to end up in court, they are far more likely to lose the drugs they have paid for. Note:  Brixton's relaxed attitude to cannabis has saved 2,000 hours of police time and potential court costs of £4million. Source: London Evening Standard (UK)Author: Philip NettletonPublished: January 2, 2002Copyright: 2002 Associated Newspapers Ltd.Contact: letters standard.co.ukWebsite: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/Related Articles:Police Extend Pilot Scheme on Cannabis http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11649.shtmlPolice End Cannabis Seizures http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10249.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by Rubingah on January 02, 2002 at 12:26:50 PT:
Yeah!
Soon enough they'll be making the Canadian pot cafes bigger and bigger...they'll have pot resorts! Come for a weekend, smoke up a few times with some quality herb, go swimming, and then cross the border and get back home in time for dinner Sunday night. US citizens will be high so often, there won't be anything left to do but legalize to stop wasting money going after the friendly neighborhood potheads.- Rubingah
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Comment #3 posted by TroutMask on January 02, 2002 at 11:06:46 PT
No choice!
US legislators will be dragged kicking and screaming into marijuana law reform (and drug law reform in general). But once the Dutch-style coffee shops are lining the Canadian border with the US, the days of US marijuana prohibition are numbered.-TM
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 02, 2002 at 09:28:56 PT
US Legislators, Take Note
The tide is definitely turning, and American policy makers need to decide whether to be progressive and pro-active, or whether they are going to miss the proverbial boat as the rest of the world changes its attitudes. 
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on January 02, 2002 at 09:27:13 PT
Inconsistent laws breed police corruption 
Mr Paddick has argued that the penalty for people caught with the drug is now more direct: although they are less likely to end up in court, they are far more likely to lose the drugs they have paid for. And the police are now much more tempted to augment their eternally-insufficient income with their vastly increased booty from the new relaxed policy.This is the type of logically ill-defined situation that leads law enforcement into ethically confusing situations that open the door to corruption. If cannabis use isn't harmful enough to warrant arrest of the user, then that suggests, logically, that cannabis dealing also is not harmful enough to warrant arrest of the dealer.But the dealers still can be arrested, so the price of cannabis remains high to reflect their risk, and that creates motivation for officers crossing the line as follows:Hey cnnabis is only Class C, I took all of these spliffs away from people today, well why can't I just resell a few of them to my friends at the pub to make some extra cash, to pay myself for all the good I do for society when I risk my life out there every day for not enough money to live the life I would like to live...That's how police corruption starts. You don't ever hear of police stealing from rapists or murders do you? No we hear of police stealing from drug dealers. Because the drug laws are inconsistent with reality and those inconsistencies open doors that should be kept firmly locked.We have to do our law enforcement people a favor and make drug laws that make social sense and don't contain inconsistencies that open the door to ethical compromise and then take us down the scary road from petty to serious police corruption.
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