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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: County Is Toughest With Drug Offenders
ccguide Friday 12 May 2000 Pubdate: Wed, 10 May 2000 Source: News & Star, Carlisle (UK) Contact: Author: Rob Merrick, parliamentary correspondent COUNTY IS TOUGHEST WITH DRUG OFFENDERS THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO BE JAILED IN CUMBRIA Cumbrians arrested for cannabis possession are more likely to be fined or jailed than people elsewhere in Britain. 29% of people arrested for cannabis offences in Cumbria are fined, compared to 24% nationally. And 2.3% are jailed compared to an average of 2% across Britain as a whole. Most Cumbrians arrested with cannabis - 57% -are let off with a police caution. But Cumbria's force is far less lenient than many others, such as Cleveland (79%) Gloucestershire (74%) and Greater Manchester (69%) The national average is 60%, although some forces, such as Durham and West Yorkshire, caution fewer than 40%. Despite an influential police foundation report last month, calling for prosecution to become the exception rather than the rule, Cumbria chief Constable Collin Phillips is sticking to his pledge to get tough with users. He said: "possession of cannabis is an offence and Cumbria Constabulary takes action to prosecute anyone caught breaking the law". "The success of this is evident in that the number of offences involving cannabis in Cumbria has fallen from 914 in 1998 to 858 in 1999." Paul Brown, director of Cumbria Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service, acknowledged that officers were acting under the law as it stands, but said that forces appeared to be more lenient. For the situation to change, There would need to be a debate and a change in the law. "Forces in bigger cities bend the rules because cannabis may not be a prime target,"he said. "I think police time could be better spent on drugs such as heroin, which causes a lot of harm." Chris Armstong Cumbria's Clerk to the Justices denied that county J.Ps issued tougher sentences than other parts of Britain. He said: "The reason we issue more fines could be because we have more people coming to court for simple possession offences, rather than something more serious connected with cannabis. The jail statistic seems to be insignificant." Home Office figures show that 743 Cummins were arrested for cannabis possession in 1998, of which 425 were cautioned. Of the 318 prosecuted, 213 fined, 36 were discharged and 17 were sent to jail. - --- MAP posted-by: Eric Ernst
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