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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Q&A Cannabis reclassification
John James The Guardian
Wednesday 21 Jan 2004 Is cannabis being legalised? No. From January 29, it's being downgraded from class B to the less serious class C. Will the penalty for possession be reduced? The maximum prison sentence for possessing the drug will be two years instead of the present five. Will the police broadly ignore all but the most blatant sale and use of cannabis? While possession in most instances will not be an arrestable offence, the police will continue to have powers of arrest where cannabis is being smoked or sold on the streets or outside schools. Will prosecution be automatic in these instances? No. Users mostly will be let off with a warning, and the drug confiscated. Children under 18 found with the drug will in general be given two warnings, and charged on the third occasion. Are the changes as a result of the experiment in Lambeth, south London, that saw a more lenient approach to soft drugs by police? There are mixed views among professionals about the 2001 pilot. But there is agreement that too much valuable police time was being taken up with processing cases where the accused received only a small fine or were discharged by magistrates. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John Stevens, says the experiment should have been undertaken in several other London boroughs. Is the government satisfied that everyone will understand the change in the law? Apparently not. Officially, it is insisting that all is clear. But, at the same time, the Home Office is spending UKP1m on an advertising campaign to clarify the new approach.
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