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UK: If I was at a friend's house and someone was smoking cannabis I'd do nothing - Chief Constable Victoria Brenan Cumberland News Friday 13 Oct 2000 Pub Date: Friday, 13 October 2000 ART: If I was at a friend's house and someone was smoking cannabis I'd do nothing - Chief Constable Author: Victoria Brenan If I was at a friend's house and someone was smoking cannabis I'd do nothing - Chief Constable CUMBRIA's Chief Constable believes the legalisation of cannabis is 'inevitable'. In a frank and unprecedented interview with The Cumberland News yesterday, Colin Phillips admitted he would personally turn a blind eye to cannabis use at a social occasion, and said the acquittal of Cumbrian multiple sclerosis sufferer Lezley Gibson was a "triumph of the jury system." Speaking for the first time since the cannabis issue hit the headlines last week, Mr Phillips said he believed public opinion and the police service were shifting towards a more lenient approach. "It's inevitable in due course, that legalisation will happen," he said. "If you look at how society has moved on, I think there will be a lifting of restrictions on cannabis but there will still need to be controls on its sale. The market would have to be controlled effectively with age limits. I wouldn't want my 12-year-old daughter being able to light up a joint of cannabis." Mr Phillips, the former drugs spokesman for the association of Chief police Officers, admitted that if he was at a friend's house and someone there lit up a joint, he would do nothing. "I wouldn't do anything and I wouldn't say anything at all," he said. He called the acquittal of Lezley Gibson, an MS sufferer from Alston who took cannabis to alleviate her symptoms, an example of the "strength of the jury system." Mrs Gibson, 36, was arrested after eight grams of the drug, worth =A332, was found in her home by Cumbrian police last September. She was cleared last month after a three-day trial when the jury heard how she tool the drug to prevent ' excruciating pain.' "That's the strength of the jury system," Mr Phillips said. "Even though she was clearly guilty - if you looked at the facts - they decided in their wisdom to make a stand and say 'this isn't sensible.' That's the great triumph of the jury system." Mr Phillips. who said he understood Mrs Gibson's situation, added: "I would support the legalisation of cannabis for prescription if there was a proven medical benefit. At the moment, it's still a criminal offence." He believes the shift towards legalisation will come, with one of the first steps occurring with legalisation for medical purposes, possibly over the next five to 10 years. "What I would support now is a knowledgeable debate," Mr Phillips added. The police no longer targeted cannabis users - although they may come across them in the course of other inquiries - and had moved towards cautioning them or offering help through the Drugs Referral scheme. "When I was in the drug squad in the early Seventies it was virtually court every time for someone caught with it," he said. "It was a new phenomenon and we were a lot tougher." Latest figures show Cumbrian police caution around 50 per cent of those caught in possession of cannabis, and charge the remainder. "Up to now, the stance is that if we come across cannabis and do something about it, it will probably be a caution," he said. Two years ago a strategy by drug tsar Keith Halliwell [sic] recommended concentrating on hard drugs, not targeting cannabis users, and offering all drug users help, Mr Phillips added. "That was a massive step forward now it's common practice. "I think we will see a rewriting of that strategy over the next five years but how far in the future complete legalisation will be and whether I support that is something else." The growing use of police cautions for cannabis use came to the forefront of public debate when Conservative shadow Home Secretary Anne Widdicombe told the Tort party conference last week that their policy would be zero tolerance, with fixed penalties of =A3100 for anybody caught with the smallest amount of the drug. Following widespread condemnation, and the admission by eight shadow cabinet members that they had smoked cannabis, Conservative leader William Hague has admitted that the plans needed further thought and consultation.
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