Pubdate: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 Source: Scotsman (UK) Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2000 Contact: http://www.scotsman.com/ Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/ Author: Tanya Thompson HELLAWELL REJECTS APPEAL FOR RADICAL CHANGE IN DRUGS LAWS BRITAIN'S drugs tsar has rejected calls for a radical change in the law, after a report suggested that jail terms for drug users should be scrapped. According to the report by the Police Foundation, penalties for hard-drug users should be reduced and prison sentences for the possession of Class B and C drugs should be abolished. The independent review of Britain's drugs laws called for a shift away from prosecuting users, towards tackling drug dealers and treating addicts. Keith Hellawell, the government's anti-drugs co-ordinator, ruled out any changes to the law and dismissed suggestions that the police should make a distinction between dealers and users. "What you get is a lot of street-level dealers with very small amounts," he said. "The problem in actually saying, 'Well, this is dealing and this is personal possession', is where do you draw the line at what is personal possession?" The independent inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 called for reforms, including greater confiscation of assets from drug traffickers. Although there is no suggestion any drugs should be legalised, it recommends fundamental changes to the way drugs such as ecstasy are classified. For example, heroin and cocaine would remain in Class A, but ecstasy and LSD would be downgraded to Class B, the same category as amphetamines. Similarly, cannabis would move from Class B to Class C. The report was criticised by Paul Betts, whose daughter Leah died after taking ecstasy. He said that, if the Police Foundation's recommendations are accepted, Britain could end up like Amsterdam. He said: "In Amsterdam, they turned a blind eye and now they have over 20,000 heroin addicts and they don't know what to do about them. We have all the laws in place. We don't need to change anything." Lady Runciman, who chaired the inquiry, said the harm that drugs caused would not be reduced by imposing "disproportionate penalties" and criminalising occasional users. She said: "We have concluded that the most dangerous message of all is the message that all drugs are equally dangerous. "When young people know that the advice they are being given is either exaggerated or untrue in relation to less harmful drugs, there is a real risk they will discount everything else they are told about the most hazardous drugs, including heroin and cocaine." The Police Foundation is an independent research body set up 21 years ago to allow police chiefs, lawyers and academics to discuss criminal law and the way it is applied. Its president, the Prince of Wales, refused to comment on the report. John Hamilton, the chief constable of Fife and a member of the committee that reviewed the drugs act, visited Amsterdam last year and was taken by his Dutch counterparts to one of the cafes where cannabis is sold openly over the counter. He said: "This proved to be a real eye-opener. It is nearly 30 years since the main legislation controlling the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom was enacted, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since those days. Personally speaking, I felt that such an opportunity as this has afforded for open and frank debate was indeed long overdue." However, Marie Kirk, the mother of Kerry-Ann Kirk, 15, who died last Boxing Day in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, after taking the heroin substitute methadone, condemned the research. She said: "To go soft on cannabis and ecstasy is a recipe for disaster, because young people will progress from cannabis on to harder drugs." Despite the rise in seizures of drugs, yesterday's report found there was no evidence that drugs had become more expensive or harder to obtain. Dave Liddell, the director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, welcomed the report and said changes were necessary to prevent the criminalisation of thousands of young people. "We have always said you should target the drugs that do the greatest harm and make that distinction," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Greg