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UK: Cannabis amnesty abused, MPs told
Nick Hopkins, crime correspondent The Guardian
Wednesday 23 Jan 2002 Drug users have taken advantage of a pilot scheme in London which relaxes official attitudes towards cannabis by flooding into the area and openly smoking in front of officers, a police leader claimed yesterday. The initiative in Lambeth has also confused children and encouraged crack cocaine dealers to become more active, said Fred Broughton, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents 126,000 rank and file staff. His remarks to MPs drew a cool response from the Metropolitan police, which believes the scheme has been a success. Danny Kushlick, director of the drugs campaign Transform, said Mr Broughton was a "dinosaur" who was talking nonsense. In evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, which is reviewing drug laws, Mr Broughton told MPs that he opposed plans by the home secretary, David Blunkett, to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a class C drug because it sent a message that smoking marijuana was acceptable. "Cannabis is certainly not OK. The evidence is pretty conclusive that it is a major problem," Mr Broughton said. He referred to the experiment in Lambeth, south London, where officers have been told to caution rather than arrest anyone caught with small amounts of cannabis. "There's anecdotal evidence in south London that the change in procedures is encouraging more people to come to that area and more people are involving themselves in cannabis," he said "There's also anecdotal evidence that more serious matters, crack abusers and crack dealers, are becoming more visible and more active. I don't think what's currently practised in south London is reducing the number of people who are using cannabis or using other drugs. In fact, the reverse seems to be true." Officers who did liaison work in local schools reported confusion among pupils and teachers, who thought cannabis had been decriminalised by the scheme, he added. The Met introduced the initiative in Lambeth to reduce the amount of time officers spent on minor cannabis offences, so they could focus on tackling class A drug users and dealers. It is estimated that the scheme saved 2,000 hours between July and December last year, although the force will wait for an independent report on the project, due in March, before deciding whether to introduce the policy across London. "There is a problem with crack cocaine in Lambeth, specifically Brixton, but this has been the case for some time," said a Met spokesman. "There's nothing to suggest there's been an increase or decrease. We are unable to gauge that. We believe there has been a positive effect on the borough and there's a feeling that it has been a success. But we're unable to comment further until the evidence has been gathered." Mr Kushlick said Mr Broughton's anecdotal evidence was contradicted by the analysis of well-informed professionals. "These statements of reaction are an expression of the death throes of prohibition and do not stand up to critical analysis. They will make fine epitaphs for a policy that is amongst the most counter-productive in contemporary history. Legalisation will prevail within 20 years and the individuals opposing change are looking more Canute-like with each passing year."
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