Pubdate: Mon, 05 Nov 2001
Source: Irish Examiner (Ireland)
Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 2001
Contact:  http://www.examiner.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/144
Author: Colette Keane

BRITISH MOVE TO RECLASSIFY CANNABIS AS CLASS C DRUG

MOVES in Britain to strike a balance and a modicum of common sense in 
policing the drugs world has sparked a wave of anti-drug protests and 
fallen short of the demands of the pro-cannabis lobby.

In a nutshell, Britain has proposed to reclassify cannabis from a B- Class 
to a C-Class drug. This does not legalise cannabis, but it removes the 
option of arrest from police officers faced with someone possessing the 
drug for personal use.

Any cannabis found on someone will still be confiscated and police will 
still be able to warn, caution or issue a summons to anyone found in 
possession of the illegal substance. The easing of attitude to personal 
users of the drug will not be extended to traffickers or suppliers, who 
will still face the full rigours of the law.

The Home Secretary David Blunkett said the move to reclassify the drug 
would free up police and allow them to concentrate on tackling more 
dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.

In 1999, British police recorded 120,000 drug arrests. Of these, 68% were 
related to cannabis, each arrest taking an officer between two and three 
hours to process, even though most arrests only resulted in fines.

This high volume of arrests associated with cannabis is despite the British 
Government's repeated stated policy it wants the police force to 
concentrate on stamping out harder and more dangerous drugs like heroine, 
cocaine and crack cocaine.

Giving evidence last month to the Home Affairs Select Committee Mr Blunkett 
stressed the need to warn young people all drugs, including cannabis, are 
dangerous. But he said there was a clear need to focus more effectively on 
hard drugs.

He is currently seeking advice from scientific and medical experts on the 
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on their assessment of the 
arguments for re-classifying cannabis from Class B to Class C. He stressed 
reclassification is quite different from decriminalisation or legalisation 
and cannabis would remain a controlled drug and using it would still be a 
criminal offence.

Mr Blunkett also confirmed, subject to the satisfactory outcome of phase 
three of the clinical trials currently being carried out, he would approve 
a change to the law to enable the prescription of cannabis-based medicine. 
He said contrary to people's perceptions, drug use by young people is not 
rising overall and the number of 16-19 year olds using drugs in Britain 
last year actually fell.

However, he said the real area of concern is the increasing numbers of 
young people using cocaine.

"We need to warn young people all drugs are dangerous, but Class A drugs 
such as heroin and cocaine are the most harmful. We will only be successful 
at delivering this message if our policy as a whole is balanced and credible.

"A quarter of a million lives are being destroyed by hard drugs and the 
cost to the criminal justice system amounts to 1.2bn.

"In spite of our focus on hard drugs, the majority of police time is 
currently spent on handling cannabis offences. It is time for an honest and 
common sense approach focusing on drugs that cause most harm.

He confirmed the Government will be targeting dealers and their profits, to 
hit the middle men who are the essential link between the drug traffickers 
and the street dealers.

The report from the ACMD is due in December, and Mr Blunkett is expected to 
announce his decision as early as February.
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