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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Change the law on cannabis use says police chief
News and Star, Carlisle
Tuesday 27 Mar 2001 Source: News and Star, Carlisle Pub Date: 27 March 2001 Change the law on cannabis use says police chief CUMBRIA'S Chief Constable has repeated his call for cannabis to be legalised for medical purposes. Colin Phillips, speaking after the publication of a House of Lords report which recommends legalisation on medical grounds, said he would support the move "if the case was proven". Mr Phillips, who last year told the News & Star that he would turn a blind eye if he saw someone smoking cannabis in a social situation, said he would stop short of total legalisation. "Until the law is stated clearly we have to continue treating cannabis use - whether medicinal or not - as a criminal offence," he said. Harmful "I would not support complete legalisation. It wouldn't work. Legalisation would lead to an increase in cannabis use and, at the end of the day, it is a harmful drug. "My comments about turning a blind eye do not mean I am in favour of legalisation. It's an offence to drop litter but if I saw someone dropping rubbish I probably wouldn't tackle them." Mr Phillips said Cumbria police and the police service generally were becoming more liberal in their approach to cannabis users, and not deliberately targeting them. "We don't virtually ignore it but we are getting to that point," he added. "We target users and suppliers of hard drugs, but if officers come across cannabis use during the course of other operations they are coming across a criminal offence." He would not estimate how long it would take before cannabis could be legalised on medical grounds, but said the will to do it existed and was dependent on Parliament. The House of Lords report, released last Thursday, recommended legalisation of cannabis-based drugs for medical purposes. It also called for users who take the drug to alleviate conditions such as multiple sclerosis not to be prosecuted. The report also accused the drugs licensing body, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA), of delaying the development of cannabis-based drugs and of not adopting a positive approach to licensing such medicines. Home Office minister Charles Clarke told the Lords that the Government would not stand in the way of an MCA-approved cannabis-based drug being prescribed by doctors.
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