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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Police Chief admits cannabis confusion
ITV.com
Thursday 15 Jan 2004 Sir John Stevens, the Commissioner for the Metropolitan police, has admitted that the public are confused over the legality of possessing cannabis. He was speaking ahead of the downgrading of the drug from a Class B to a Class C drug. The new law will come into place on January 29 following Parliament's decision last October to change the drug's classification. The move means cannabis will now rank alongside bodybuilding steroids and some anti-depressants. This means possession will no longer be an arrestable offence in most cases, although police will retain the power to arrest users in certain aggravated situations - such as when the drug is smoked outside schools. Sir John Stevens told LBC radio that it was clear many people did not realise it would still be illegal and said there was widespread public confusion over the official position on cannabis. He will be one of the chief officers tasked with enforcing the drug's new legal status. Speaking to the London radio station he said: "There is a massive amount of muddle about where we are with cannabis, the possession of cannabis, the use of cannabis. It is still against the law in this country. You are committing an offence if you have it in your possession and if you use it". He also admitted his decision to limit an experimental "softly,softly" policing approach to cannabis in the south London borough of Brixton had been a mistake. The Government has denied the move to downgrade the drug amounts to legalisation, with Home Secretary David Blunkett saying that the change is necessary to enable police to spend more time tackling Class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
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