Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO) Copyright: 2002 Columbia Daily Tribune Contact: http://www.showmenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91 BRITISH MIGHT REDUCE POT PENALTY Blair Wants To Downgrade Drug's Status LONDON (AP) - The British government wants to downgrade marijuana's status as a drug, putting it on par with steroids rather than amphetamines and barbiturates - a move that would let most users off with a warning. Yesterday Prime Minister Tony Blair's government outlined a proposal to the House of Commons that would relax marijuana laws, stopping short of legalization. The goal is to let police focus their enforcement efforts on harder drugs. Blair's Labor Party has a large majority in Parliament, and the proposal is virtually certain to pass. Under the plan, marijuana would be downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug, making its use and possession less serious crimes, Home Secretary David Blunkett said in outlining the plan to the House of Commons. Police would retain the authority to arrest those caught with marijuana but in most cases would simply confiscate the drug and issue a warning. "The message to young people and families must be open, honest and believable," Blunkett said. "Cannabis is a potentially harmful drug and should remain illegal. However, it is not comparable with crack, heroin and Ecstasy." Blair said the proposal did not amount to decriminalization and had wide support among the police because it would allow them to spend more time fighting more serious drugs. The opposition Conservative Party criticized the proposal as potentially dangerous to the public, and a government adviser resigned in protest. In the United States, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws praised the British policy shift. "Great Britain's reclassification of cannabis is an honest and common-sense approach to refocus drug policy on those substances that cause the most harm," said the group's founder and executive director, Keith Stroup. Laws differ among individual U.S. states. But eight states have taken some kind of step toward permitting marijuana for medicinal use: California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Colorado. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens