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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Police policy is hazy over public smoking of cannabis
Lewis Smith The Times
Saturday 31 Jan 2004 CANNABIS users face "postcode policing" because of widespread confusion over the legal downgrading of the drug. Police in some areas are promising a new laissez-faire attitude to cannabis, while others have pledged a hard-line approach. In the City of London, for example, people who smoke the drug in public may escape arrest even if caught half a dozen times, while in Hull they will probably be prosecuted on the second offence. In Nottingham, people smoking the drug in their living rooms or gardens could be arrested, but in Durham they may be able to smoke with impunity in public parks and gardens. The confusion follows the downgrading of cannabis, from last Thursday, from a Class B to a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Police officers have been given discretionary powers now that on-the-spot warnings have replaced automatic arrest for possession of the drug. In Manchester, for example, police have such wide discretion that there are circumstances where someone can smoke on a street corner without risk of arrest while in another part of the same city a householder could be prosecuted for smoking in his own back yard. People deemed to be flouting the law by smoking cannabis in deserted public places in Aberystwyth are likely to be arrested, but in Lincoln they could expect to get away with a warning. The biggest trap for users is in Scotland, where officers remain under orders to detain everyone found with cannabis. Police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been issued with guidance by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) on when to arrest and when to give a warning. The new rules mean that there is a presumption against arrest, but a survey by The Times of the 44 police forces outside Scotland shows wide discrepancies in the way that the exceptions are applied. Acpo is anticipating legal challenges in the courts by people who are arrested instead of given warnings. Exceptions include when cannabis is smoked "in public view" or when an offender is found to possess the drug "in the vicinity" of locations where children congregate, such as schools, youth clubs and playgroups. No attempt is made to define such terms, so police forces, and in many regions the officers themselves, have been left to decide for themselves what is meant. A further reason for arrest is when users are found to be repeat offenders, yet no guidance has been issued to determine how many warnings someone can receive before arrest is deemed necessary. The way the police record warnings also differs. Most forces follow Acpo and Home Office advice to log warnings only on local police databases but a handful, including Bedfordshire Police, will record them on the national database. This means that users who travel around the country can get caught in several regions without their previous warnings showing up.
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