cannabisnews.com: Lambeth Cannabis Pilot: The Facts 





Lambeth Cannabis Pilot: The Facts 
Posted by CN Staff on July 01, 2002 at 19:47:29 PT
By Nick Hopkins, Crime Correspondent
Source: Guardian Unlimited UK
The cannabis pilot was launched on July 2 last year and was due to last six months. The Met now says it will continue until the home secretary has ruled on reclassification. In the first six months officers and civilian staff saved more than 2,500 hours and led to a 19% increase in arrests of class A drug dealers. The number of arrests for dealing cannabis rose 11%. The Police Federation claimed the initiative had confused children and encouraged crack cocaine dealers. 
This view was supported by a Mori poll commissioned for the Police Foundation. Forty-one per cent of those asked said they knew nothing about it and out of the 56% who claimed they did, some believed that cannabis had been legalised or decriminalised. The police said the poll of 2,055 Lambeth residents showed 83% either supported the experiment outright or conditionally. But critics pointed to other statistics which indicated that while half of all white residents in Brixton supported the experiment, the majority of black and Asian residents opposed it. Schools that replied to a police questionnaire about the use of cannabis by pupils suggests that the experiment had had no adverse effect on behaviour. Data suggests that the idea of an influx of drug tourists into Lambeth is a myth. Special Report Drugs in Britain: http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/0,2759,178206,00.htmlSource: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK)Author: Nick Hopkins, Crime CorrespondentPublished: Tuesday, July 2, 2002Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers LimitedContact: comment guardian.co.uk Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Related Articles:Idle and High on Drugs? Not Us, Say Today's Youth http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13274.shtmlPolice Chiefs Set To Extend Soft Line on Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13125.shtml Brixton's Gone To Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12866.shtml 
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