cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Policy Goes Up In Smoke





Cannabis Policy Goes Up In Smoke
Posted by CN Staff on June 21, 2003 at 21:29:02 PT
By Sophie Goodchild, Home Affairs Correspondent
Source: Independent UK
Chief constables are refusing to sanction new proposals that reduce police powers of arrest against cannabis smokers in a rebellion against the Government. The hardline approach by members of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) is expected to lead to huge differences in how cannabis is policed in Britain.It will also cause a schism between regional police forces and the Metropolitan Police, which intends to back plans by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, for officers to arrest cannabis users only in exceptional circumstances.
Last year, Mr Blunkett announced that he planned to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a class C drug, effectively allowing it to be smoked for personal use. He took the decision in part to ensure that police forces targeted their overstretched resources towards hard drugs.But the Home Secretary was forced into partial retreat. After fierce lobbying by senior police officers, he announced new laws enabling police to retain the power of arrest for cannabis possession as well as a 14-year sentence for dealers.These new powers are contained in the Criminal Justice Bill, which is likely to gain Royal Assent later this year.Andy Hayman, chairman of Acpo's drugs committee and the Chief Constable of Norfolk, battled to persuade other chief constables to accept a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy, but this was rejected on the grounds that it would be too difficult for officers to monitor users.At a meeting of chief constables next month he will attempt to push through a watered-down strategy proposing arrest in specific circumstances, for example where users have been found in possession outside schools. But chief constables of individual forces have argued they must be allowed to decide when to make arrests.A police insider said that the different approaches in policing towards cannabis will send "all sorts of mixed messages" to users."Chief constables have said that Parliament or the Government cannot tell a constable when and why they exercise their discretion. It's a matter for the officer concerned," the source said.An Independent on Sunday survey of half of British police forces on how they treated cannabis users over the last financial year shows remarkable discrepancies and indicates that the system is in chaos. The number of people cautioned by Cleveland Police for possessing class B drugs, for example, increased from 117 in 2001 to 186 in 2002. This compares with Essex Police where there was a much smaller rise - from 411 in 2001 to 441 in 2002."There is major confusion going on," said Roger Howard, chief executive of drugs charity Drugscope. "Our advice would be for the police to let go of this issue and to let the Home Secretary do what he intended in the first place and not have arrestability." Source: Independent (UK)Author: Sophie Goodchild, Home Affairs CorrespondentPublished: Sunday, June 22, 2003Contact: letters independent.co.ukWebsite: http://www.independent.co.uk/Related Articles & Web Sites:DrugScope UKhttp://www.drugscope.org.uk/Drugs Uncovered: Observer Special http://freedomtoexhale.com/dc.htmThinktank Urges Leniency for Cannabis Growers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15962.shtmlResearchers Call for Softer Pot Cultivation Lawshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15957.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by schmeff on June 24, 2003 at 09:48:06 PT
Priorities
For the cops, it's not really about the law...it's about the POWER.
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Comment #5 posted by MikeEEEEE on June 22, 2003 at 07:53:51 PT
A perfect example of...
once you give a freedom away it's hard to get back.Cannabis should have never been crimminalized to begin with. Besides, law enforcement shouldn't dictate policy.
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on June 22, 2003 at 05:01:44 PT
Holy Smoke, that is... & cover that border...
Yea, they will have to face tighter border constrictions... Cannada is about to receive a border tight like female fish ananatomy. (is that all spelt rithg?)How is there a connection to the bread –your flesh and the bread of the tree of life? and or shewbread?6:22:3Ever notice that You notice patterns?Here is a one, two, three...Web: Teachers Against Prohibition Reborn As Educators For Sensible Drug Policy http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n935/a11.html?397US: Study: Marijuana Use Doesn't Hurt All Test Scores
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n935/a04.html?397 US AL: City Schools Drop DARE For Own Anti-Drug Program
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n933/a06.html?397 What IS the difference between church and state: government and religion? Where do they draw the line, and where should the line be drawn? When You come to the first fork in the road, each with it’s own servant, and one says that all the green plants are good, but We will cage You if You use the cannabis plant, while the other says they are all good indeed the cannabis plant, proceed down the path that actually lines up with what is written on the 1st page. Proceed, You are ready for the 2nd fork in the road.Before someone steals Your lunch money, they will trip You, and trip You immediately, right from the start. (& somewhere down the line, /page, Mr. Bush, We will discuss the current accepted obedient Christians understandings toward killing, sir).Since, Bush seems to be making / perpetuating Us (America) a terrorist nation, it would be well to put on...The Armor of God. (Eph. 6:...11-13...17...) (as I’ve said before...)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 
12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 
13  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm...
take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.Let’s go back, and walk with Him, right from the start, all over again. For those of You who don’t know it, this planet belongs to Jesus Christ, and it is for Our benefit to live as though Jesus Christ is the boss, not Mr. Bush.The Green Collar Worker loves the Boss.
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Comment #3 posted by freedom fighter on June 22, 2003 at 00:09:28 PT
Fast forward into trouble 
Four years ago, Bhutan, the fabled Himalayan Shangri-la, became the last nation on earth to introduce television. Suddenly a culture, barely changed in centuries, was bombarded by 46 cable channels. And all too soon came Bhutan's first crime wave - murder, fraud, drug offences. Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy report from a country crash-landing in the 21st century ---------The marijuana that flourishes like a weed in every Bhutanese hedgerow was only ever used to feed pigs before the advent of TV, but police have arrested hundreds for smoking it in recent years. Six employees of the Bank of Bhutan have been sentenced for siphoning off 2.4m ngultrums (£40,000). Six weeks before we arrived, 18 people were jailed after a gang of drunken boys broke into houses to steal foreign currency and a 21-inch television set. During the holy Bishwa Karma Puja celebrations, a man was stabbed in the stomach in a fight over alcohol. A middle-class Thimphu boy is serving a sentence after putting on a bandanna and shooting up the ceiling of a local bar with his dad's new gun. Police can barely control the fights at the new hip-hop night on Saturdays--------(very interesting article...What's truly addictive? The "PROHIBITION" shown on T.V., or the common herb that's fed to the pigs where the entire population get to enjoy the benefit of the plant without harming their health?)http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975769,00.html?Very funny, pigs eating the weeds while keystoned cops chasing the tobacco smokers.!hahahpazff
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on June 21, 2003 at 21:56:28 PT:
David Blunkett, Stand Your Ground: Drop Arrests.
What happened to "We don't make the laws; we only enforce them."? "There is major confusion going on," said Roger Howard, chief executive of drugs charity Drugscope. "Our advice would be for the police to let go of this issue and to let the Home Secretary do what he intended in the first place and not have arrestability." Giving the police discretion to arrest on their whim is a cop-out.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, policing hard drugs is hard, are the police up to the challenge, or would they rather fight the easy cases of minor pot possession?
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Comment #1 posted by daoist cowboy on June 21, 2003 at 21:44:54 PT:
ship em off
there is going to slim pickings for these pore cops after they can't pick on pot smokers any more, no wonder they are panicking - I think they should be shipped off to some place like Afghanistan where they can do some real needed policing. what cowards
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