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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Blunkett Warned Over 'Softly Softly' Approach On Cannabis
Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent The Independent
Thursday 23 May 2002 The Lambeth experiment in liberalising the response to cannabis possession will lead to more schoolchildren smoking the illegal substance, Scotland Yard's most senior drugs officer has told the Government. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mike Fuller, the head of the Metropolitan Police's drugs directorate, has written to the Home Secretary to tell him that drug dealers and users are being attracted to the south London borough because of the "softly softly" approach. David Blunkett is expected to announce that cannabis will be reclassified from a class B to a class C drug, making possession for personal use a non-arrestable offence. Since July last year people caught in Lambeth in possession of a small quantity of cannabis have been let off with a warning rather than being arrested. Police chiefs elsewhere in the country are drawing up plans for further pilot schemes. The decision to take a more liberal approach is supported by recommendations in two recent reports, including one from the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, published yesterday. But Mr Blunkett has said he will consider the results of the Lambeth experiment before relaxing the law on cannabis. Mr Fuller sent a report, Evaluation of the London Borough of Lambeth Cannabis Pilot Warning Scheme, to Mr Blunkett last month. It said the pilot scheme had created a number of anti-social problems. "I think we will get more young people using and experimenting with cannabis," he told The Independent. He said that since the pilot scheme had begun, the police had found a greater number of drug dealers and cannabis users coming into the borough. "We have been very cautious of whether it [the trial] has been a success or not. There seems to be a very negative consequence in terms of the social impact that greater liberalisation has had. "A lot of parents of teenagers are particularly worried. It's about how do teenagers make informed choices. If you are going to have what appears to be a more relaxed police [approach] you need safeguards for young people." The scheme has saved police officers time by freeing them from the lengthy arrest procedures. That is almost enough time to have two extra officers on the beat. Mr Fuller said that the force had used the time to respond to emergency calls and not, as widely reported, to pursue heroin and cocaine dealers. The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Met are drawing up plans for pilot projects before Mr Blunkett's announcement on liberalising cannabis laws, which is expected before the end of July. Police chiefs envisage a graded response in which some individuals caught with cannabis - such as teenagers, motorists and people causing trouble - will face prosecution via a summons, while others will be let off with a warning.
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