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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: 400 cannabis users warned under pilot scheme
Ananova
Wednesday 02 Jan 2002 Around 400 drug users have escaped arrest for possession of cannabis under a controversial pilot scheme. In Brixton, people caught with small amounts of the drug are let off with a formal warning and the cannabis is confiscated. The scheme is intended to free up police time so officers can concentrate on fighting harder drugs like crack cocaine. From July to November last year, 381 people were given a formal warning for possession of cannabis, a figure expected to rise to 400 by the end of December. During the same period in 2000, 278 people were arrested for the same offence. The Met says confiscating drugs and issuing an immediate warning could take 10 minutes of an officer's time instead of up to 10 hours if the person is arrested, taken to a police station and formally cautioned. A Met spokesman said: "Lambeth has many issues with harder drugs, and crack cocaine is the drug which concerns people the most. This scheme gives officers more time to target those drugs. "The point of the scheme is to put more officers on the streets rather than tying them up in police stations. "People are still having the drugs confiscated and because there are more officers out there, there is an increased chance of having the cannabis taken off you." The initiative has been extended until the spring and the Met is awaiting the results of two reports - an internal evaluation and an independent inquiry - into its merits.
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