Pubdate: Sun, 25 Nov 2001
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: 2001 The Observer
Contact:  http://www.observer.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/315
Author: Kamal Ahmed, political editor, The Observer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

WE DON'T PROSECUTE ECSTASY USERS - POLICE CHIEF

One of Britain's most senior police officers reignited the debate over the 
policing of drugs last night when he revealed that first-time offenders 
caught with ecstasy are not being prosecuted, even though it is a Class A 
drug punishable by up to seven years in prison. The disclosure by Andy 
Hayman, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, comes 
days after another senior police officer, Brian Paddick, was rebuked for 
suggesting that pursuing cocaine and ecstasy users was not a priority.

Hayman, the chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers' drugs 
committee, said that it was usually better to caution first-time offenders 
rather than send them to court, which can cost thousands of pounds and 
means courts have less time to deal with more serious offences.

'If you've got someone for personal use, one tablet, maybe two, with no 
other previous convictions ... then rather than just push them through the 
criminal justice process - which could have negative effects on that 
individual - let's go about it in a different way,' he said.

Hayman, who argued last week that he would favour reclassifying ecstasy if 
scientific evidence supported it, said that it was better to caution 
offenders and educate them about the dangers of drugs. 'We know from the 
experience of shoplifting and other offences that once they have had that 
deterrent, sometimes that is enough and they don't go back to it,' he said.

Hayman denied that the police approach was a de facto reclassification of 
the drug from Class A to Class B, something the Home Office has refused to 
consider despite growing pressure for a review. 'We are not in any way 
minimising the seriousness and the dangers around that drug,' he said.

His comments, however, were criticised by Valerie Riches of Family and 
Youth Concern.'What sort of message is this sending out?' she said. 
'Youngsters will say that the police cannot touch them. It seems at the 
moment that if enough people break a particular law, then we just give up 
on it and try to tackle something else.'

Police are also concerned that reforms of cautioning policy will lead to 
different approaches in different force areas. A report from the Joseph 
Rowntree Foundation, to be published in the new year, will say that people 
involved in cannabis offences will be treated very differently depending on 
which area they are in.
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MAP posted-by: Jackl