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UK: Government rejects findings of landmark drugs policy report

Ananova

Wednesday 07 Feb 2001

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The key findings of a landmark report on drugs policy have been rejected
out of hand by the Government.
The Police Foundation inquiry says the penalties for possession of cannabis
did more harm than the drug itself
The report also calls for a wide reclassification of drugs offences.
The Home Office has thrown out 24 of the committee's main recommendations
in a move which will dismay campaigners who have been urging a more clear
distinction between penalties on hard and soft drugs.
Viscountess Runciman of Doxford, chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into
the Misuse of Drugs Act, condemned the Government's attitude as "mistaken
and complacent" and said it burdened the country with laws which were out
of step with public attitudes.
The only major proposal not spurned by the Home Office was the suggestion
that people could defend themselves on charges of supplying drugs if they
proved that it was only for use by a small circle of friends, says Lady
Runciman.
The inquiry team, which included two serving chief constables, called for
possession of cannabis to be made a non-imprisonable offence. The drug
would also have been reclassified from Class B to Class C and people found
cultivating a small number of cannabis plants would also not face prison.
But the Home Office had rejected all the report's suggestions on softening
the policy on cannabis, said Lady Runciman.
The inquiry's call to reduce jail terms for possession of heroin and
cocaine from a maximum of seven years to 12 months was also rejected. And
the Government dismissed calls to reclassify ecstasy and LSD as Class B
drugs, lifting the threat of imprisonment for possession.
The Home Office's reply to the inquiry was handed to the Home Affairs
Select Committee more than 10 months after the proposals were made public.

 

 

 

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