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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Smoker marks start of drug trial with spliff John Sturgis This is London Monday 02 Jul 2001 AT 10.28 this morning, Chris Baldwin entered the footnotes of history. The 51-year-old took three cigarette papers from his pocket, stuck them together, added some tobacco and a pinch of herbal cannabis, rolled them into a makeshift cigarette and, as he sat smiling outside Brixton police station, lit up. Mr Baldwin, a wheelchair-bound spastic who has been smoking cannabis for 33 years, had travelled from his home in Worthing, Sussex, to mark the beginning of a six-month police pilot project in which users of small quantities of cannabis will no longer face prosecution. The Lambeth scheme, which could be adopted across London or even nationally if it is considered successful, is intended to stop police officers being diverted from more serious crimes. Its architect, Commander Brian Paddick, argues that it takes two officers off duty for over four hours each to prosecute a single dope smoker, who will usually face a fine of less than £50. It took 20 minutes, two joints and several shouted requests to passing patrols before two Pcs were finally persuaded to confront the openly-smoking Mr Baldwin today. He was taken inside the station to be issued with the first caution under the new guidelines - which, since the advent of the 1925 Dangerous Drugs Act, are the first move towards decriminalising cannabis. Beat officers will get "caution pads" so that they can warn users they are breaking the law and confiscate their supply in a 10-minute encounter without having to make an arrest or return to the station. Nine and a half minutes after entering the station, Mr Baldwin emerged grinning. "They asked me if it was cannabis and I said it was and they put it in a little plastic bag and I had to sign to say that they had taken it," he said. "They took my name and address and asked me if I knew that what I was doing was wrong. We agreed to disagree and I accepted their warning."
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