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UK: London denizens see cannabis issue through a haze
Sarah Laitner Financial Times
Thursday 19 Feb 2004 Wander through theheaving weekend crowds in north London's energetic Camden Town and it is hard to miss the sight and smell of Britain's new approach to cannabis. "It is just one of those places where people smoke, it doesn't bother anyone," believes Jamie, one of the local market traders. The wafts of cannabis curling through Camden once did so in strident defiance of the law. But last month the British government made cannabis possession a less serious offence. Although the drug remains illegal, police will use their discretion over whether to arrest adult users. This "little-less-illegal" approach has sparked a fierce debate over how to police cannabis, the most widely used illegal drug in the UK. Every year 3.3m people between the ages of 16 and 59 use it. The Labour government's reform downgrades cannabis from class B, which contains drugs such as amphetamines, to class C, including tranquilisers such as valium. Under the change, those under 18 will be arrested for possession. Adults are likely to receive a warning instead of being arrested - unless they are repeat offenders, smoking in public or near places where there are children. The maximum sentence for possession drops from five years to two although suppliers and dealers may be jailed for up to 14 years. Critics say the reform was botched, sidelining questions of dependency, crime and health and confusing people into thinking the drug is now legal. "The decision is wrong on the science, wrong on the environment and wrong on what is happening on the streets. The people who took this decision will live to regret it," says Peter Stoker, director of the National Drug Prevention Alliance. There is, he says, "no doubt that the message has been extremely mixed. We know from interviews that young people are extremely confused." The British Medical Association is worried the reclassification could be interpreted as a sign that cannabis is safe. It points to the risks of heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema from chronic smoking of the drug. Mental health campaigners also note links between increasingly potent strains of cannabis and psychosis. Some police have also criticised the move. Ordinary officers, represented by the Police Federation, also say people are confused about the drug's legal status. And across the country police appear to be adopting different approaches to users after being issued with their guidelines. Some, including police in Camden, which is running an anti-drug operation, say they are erring towards arrest. Others are issuing warnings and confiscating the drug. Britain was introduced to the idea of changes to cannabis laws through a "softly-softly" trial two years ago in Brixton, south London. Police in the area, which has a big drugs problem, warned those caught with cannabis instead of arresting them. The UK's drug laws have traditionally been viewed as less liberal than those in many other European Union countries. But although arrests and penalties for cannabis offences are rising in some EU countries, others are increasingly choosing not to prosecute for the use and possession of small quantities, says the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. "Fines, cautions, probation, exemption from punishment and counselling are favoured by most European justice systems," the Lisbon-based centre says. The UK government says it downgraded cannabis because although harmful, it was not as damaging as other drugs in the class B category. It also wanted to give police more time to fight drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin. British public opinion appears to support the change. A poll of more than 2,500 adults, taken for the Daily Telegraph newspaper as the drug was reclassified, showed the move had majority support. More than half said they would be happy to see the sale and possession of cannabis decriminalised, or even legalised. Most still detested drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. Other backers of reclassification include Drugscope, the drugs charity. "We support the evidence that cannabis, on balance, is not as harmful as other class B drugs, although we do know that it is not a harmless drug," it says. Senior police have also backed the government, which has advertised the changes widely. Officers were carrying out a "pointless" and "grossly inefficient" task when they arrested those found with small amounts of cannabis, Sir Ian Blair, deputy commissioner of London's police, told the Times newspaper. David Blunkett, interior minister, responsible for pushing through the reform, says the reclassification will be kept under review, and insists the message has not been mixed. But in areas such as Camden it will become clear whether the message has indeed got through, or is lost in a fug of confusion.
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