cannabisnews.com: London Police Extend Marijuana Experiment





London Police Extend Marijuana Experiment
Posted by CN Staff on July 10, 2002 at 14:12:18 PT
By Mike Wendling, CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief
Source: CNSNews.com
The British government announced plans to reduce penalties for cannabis possession Wednesday, prompting howls of protest from conservatives and a leading drug policy advisor.Following a lengthy parliamentary review, Home Secretary David Blunkett told legislators that marijuana will be downgraded from Class B to Class C, putting it on a par with steroids and sleeping pills. 
Possession of the drug will now be punishable by a maximum of two years in prison. In practice, police will generally not arrest those caught with small quantities of the drug unless there are aggravating circumstances. Instead, officers will issue warnings or a court summons.Blunkett also said he would toughen laws against drug dealing and increase the maximum sentences for dealing Class B and Class C drugs from 10 and five years respectively to 14 years for both classes.The home secretary denied allegations by critics who said reducing penalties for cannabis possession is tantamount to legalization of the drug."We will not legalize or decriminalize any drugs, nor do we envision a time when this might be appropriate," he said. "The message is clear: drugs are dangerous."Blunkett said government policy on drugs must be "open, honest and believable" and that while cannabis is potentially dangerous, it is not as dangerous as crack, heroin or ecstasy.Police experiment In a related development, London's Metropolitan Police Department said a pilot project city's Lambeth borough would be extended throughout the British capital.Under the scheme, police officers are only issuing warnings to cannabis users and are concentrating manpower on busting dealers and users of harder drugs.Conservatives have attacked the project and also criticized with lower penalties for marijuana use.Conservative Party home affairs spokesman Oliver Letwin called Wednesday's announcement a "dangerous and muddled" policy.Letwin said the case could be made either for total legalization of cannabis or policies that "make serious efforts to lead young people away from the drug." He argued that simply lowering the penalties was a middling, ineffective solution to the drug abuse problem.Earlier on Wednesday, Britain's former "drug czar" lashed out at the anticipated announcement and told the BBC he would be leaving his part-time advisory post Keith Hellawell, who managed the government's drugs policy before taking a lesser role last year, said lowering cannabis penalties would send the wrong message to young people."I don't know where (the home secretary) has got his advice from but he hasn't got it from me," Hellawell said during a radio interview.Hellawell said cannabis use amongst British youth is on the rise."Why on earth, when there are these problems, we change our message and give a softer message I don't know," he said.Conservative Christian groups also opposed the move. "The government is going soft on cannabis," said Colin Hart, director of the Christian Institute. "The result will be open cannabis dealing and cannabis smoking on the streets. Simon Calvert, the institute's deputy director, said the stronger penalties for drug dealers show the U.K. government is of two minds on the drug issue."The home secretary has realized he's got it wrong and is doing his best to patch up his policy. Cannabis is still being downgraded, however." "This is no help at all at the moment," he said. "It fails to recognize that cannabis is a gateway drug and leads to use of harder drugs. We are seeding the next generation of hard drug users."Support from charity, police But the cannabis downgrade won the approval of the nation's leading drug charity, DrugScope, and police officials."David Blunkett called for an 'adult, intelligent debate on drugs' and at last we are having one," said DrugScope Chief Executive Roger Howard. "DrugScope welcomes the reclassification of cannabis but believes that the evidence suggests we should now go further." The charity wants jail sentences for possession of small amounts of all drugs to be eliminated entirely."Surely locking people up for smoking a joint is an inappropriate use of scarce resources," Howard said.London's police force said reclassifying the drug would "enable police to concentrate additional efforts on tackling hard drugs such as crack cocaine."In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said the Lambeth experiment would end at the end of July, but officers will continue to use warnings against small-time cannabis users, a strategy that will now be used across the city starting in the fall.In compliance with the national guidelines, London police will also be allowed to make arrests "where aggravating factors apply," including situations where there a suspect is disorderly, deliberately flouting the law or putting children in danger."We felt it important that officers can maintain their credibility in dealing with members of the public in possession of cannabis and that their authority on the street is not undermined," said Ian Blair, deputy commissioner of the Met Police. The police department also released statistics showing that arrests for Class A drugs, including such substances as heroin and cocaine, increased after the Lambeth project started last July. Crack cocaine arrests went up by 44 percent and trafficking arrests were up by 10 percent. A survey of schools in the area found that the policy had virtually no effect on drug use by children and teenagers.The downgrade was also supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers, which will formulate national guidelines once the details of the new drugs plan are finalized. Pro-marijuana groups cheered the announcement, but argued that the plans don't go far enough. Britain's Legalize Cannabis Alliance political party saw the announcement as "a sign of a change in attitude."The Washington-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) called the reclassification "an honest and common-sense approach to drug policy."The cannabis announcement was the most anticipated plank in the biggest review of British drug policy in decades. Blunkett also announced additional funding for treatment centers. However, he rejected calls to downgrade ecstasy and set up "shooting galleries" where heroin users would be able to get high in a safe location providing health care and treatment.Complete Title: UK Pot Laws Relaxed As London Police Extend Marijuana ExperimentSource: CNSNews.comAuthor: Mike Wendling, CNSNews.com London Bureau ChiefPublished: July 10, 2002Copyright: 1998-2002 Cybercast News ServiceContact: shogenson cnsnews.comWebsite: http://www.cnsnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/British Cannabis Growers Leery of 'Softer' Lawshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13357.shtmlBritain To Relax Laws for Millions of Dope Smokers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13339.shtmlTories Condemn Brixton Cannabis Scheme http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13335.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by SirReal on July 10, 2002 at 14:53:12 PT
..........slowly but surely.......................
.......the weed's freedom is that much closer......what a victory!I'm telling everyone I know
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