|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Debate rages on drug reform Jo Green Eastern Daily Press, Norfolk Friday 16 Jan 2004 When the London Borough of Lambeth brought in a 'softly-softly' approach to cannabis use, it sparked off a wave of controversy. Commander Brian Paddick, who had ordered officers to let off cannabis users with confiscation and a warning, came in for fierce criticism from the media and anti-drugs groups for 'going soft' on crime, but not before the experiment had persuaded politicians to look again at our drug laws. Two years on, the Lambeth experiment has been abandoned. But new national laws will now make using cannabis a less serious offence than it has been - in theory at least. At present, anyone possessing it can be arrested and face up to five years in jail, though in practice many users are just fined. But from January 29, although possessing cannabis will still be illegal, police officers have been told to arrest users only in 'aggravating circumstances' and the majority caught with the drug should have it confiscated and be let off with a formal warning. The aim is to switch the focus from private individuals, who arguably harm only themselves, to dealers, who use the profits from cannabis and Ecstasy to fund markets for harder drugs. Yet, possibly in a bid to fend off criticism that Labour was being 'soft on crime', repeat offenders, anyone smoking cannabis in public or around places like schools and anyone under 18 using the drug will still be arrested. The maximum sentence for possession is two years or life for dealers. To some, the move makes sense. Last year, some 64,000 people were convicted of possessing cannabis, leaving police and the courts struggling to keep up. The Government believes that re-classifying the drug from class B to class C, putting it on a par with prescription painkillers and steroids, will ease this situation and allow law enforcers to get on with tackling more serious drugs. It does not accept that it might lead to a boom in soft drug use. But critics say reclassification has sent out a message that it is ok to use cannabis. They say the public believes the new laws make the drug legal, and any boom in its use could be hugely damaging to people's physical and mental health. The comments of Lincoln coroner Roger Atkinson yesterday in a murder-suicide case - bizarrely sparked in the first instance by a dispute over a boundary hedge but fuelled, he found, by the drug - illustrate its dangers. He said: "Cannabis is not a harmless drug and this case demonstrates how devastating its effects can be." There is confusion too over how the laws will be implemented. In its 2002 report on drugs, the Association of Chief Police Officers' drugs committee suggested that where cannabis is concerned, dealers and anyone under 18 using the drug were the greatest concern. The report stated that "given reclassification, interventions on the use of cannabis will be directed to the associated harms, eg street markets, access to schoolchildren, rather than the use of cannabis itself". Norfolk Chief Constable Andy Hayman chaired the drugs committee and will make a response on the laws tomorrow. But Lady Runciman, who chaired the Police Foundation report on the UK's drug laws which first recommended making cannabis a class C drug, said the Government has created real confusion by allowing police to arrest people. By ruling that on the one hand users should be just cautioned for using the drug, and on the other that they can still be arrested for possessing it, she said the new laws are in danger of becoming unworkable. In other words, you can smoke a joint in your house but not in your car. Yesterday, one of the country's top policemen, Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir John Stevens, admitted there was widespread public confusion over the official position on cannabis. He said it was clear many people did not realise it would still be illegal and said there was a "massive amount of muddle". He told LBC Radio in London:"``You are committing an offence if you have it in your possession and if you use it. "I think that needs to be made absolutely clear." Teachers are worried. John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads' Association, said many were concerned about implications for discipline and whether pupils could end up with criminal records after wrong believing the drug was legal. No information on the changes has been sent to schools and, with just weeks to go until the law changes, the Home Office is hurriedly commissioning publicity material. And there remain arguments over the health benefits and risks. Clinical trials into its effectiveness as pain relief have been running for some time, with the first carried out in 2000 at the James Paget Hospital, Gorleston. Using cannabis for pain relief remains illegal, although a more light-handed approach means anyone with multiple sclerosis, using small amounts at home, will not be arrested. Far from settling the cannabis legalisation debate, reclassifying it appears to have sparked off more controversy. Time will tell which side of the argument is right.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!