This will upset the Daily Mail - they were calling on tuesday for all
3,000,000 cannabis users to jailed:
"That means not only tightening the law but seeing that it is rigorously
enforced - against pushers and users alike."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/newscomment.html?in_article_id=562669&in_page_id=1787
I have no doubt there will be a rant against this in today's mail - I look
forward to seeing it.
Police reject tougher action on cannabis
Brown plan to upgrade drug will not change 'confiscate and warn' stance
Police will not adopt a tougher approach to cases of simple possession of
cannabis when ministers upgrade the legal status of the drug to class B,
the Guardian can disclose.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) confirmed last night that
the current policy of "confiscate and warn" would continue, despite Gordon
Brown's determination to reclassify the drug in an attempt to "send a
tough message" to young people about its use.
Chief constables are debating whether or not fixed penalty fines should be
available alongside cannabis warnings. But the basic approach of saving
police time by not making an arrest and taking the offender to the police
station to be charged, introduced four years ago, will remain.
Before cannabis was downgraded to class C in 2004, 58% of possession cases
formally dealt with by police ended in arrest and formal caution, while
42% were taken to court.
Campaigners for drug law reform last night questioned the relevance of the
drug classification system, which dates back to 1971, and its ability to
send a message.
Roger Howard, chief executive of the UK Drug Policy Commission, and a
former government drugs adviser, said: "There will be no new powers or
resources for policing if cannabis is made class B, and cannabis warnings
can still be issued instead of arrest."
He said this underlined the muddle at the heart of government over the
purpose of a drug classification system which was unlikely ever to be able
to "send a message to young people". Since cannabis had moved from class B
to class C, the number of schoolchildren who think it is fine to try
cannabis had halved, he said.
It is expected that Acpo guidance to police officers will use different
language from existing guidelines to stress the discretion that is
available to constables to take more robust action in cases involving
repeat offenders or aggravating factors such as disorder or evidence of
organised crime.
An Acpo spokesman last night: "The key will be the discretion for officers
to strike the right balance. We do not want to criminalise young people
who are experimenting." However, he stressed that cases involving
"aggravating factors" were more likely to see an arrest and prosecution.
When the police announced their sup****t for regrading cannabis as a class
B drug this year, Simon Byrne, Merseyside's assistant chief constable and
the Acpo lead on policing cannabis, entered a little-noticed but crucial
caveat to the police position. He said that since cannabis had been
downgraded there had been growing concerns over increased potency, the
rise of "homegrown" cannabis farms and a perception that its legal status
meant it was seen as a low policing priority.
But he added that the police had sup****ted the decision to downgrade the
drug four years ago because of "the dispro****tionate time spent by
frontline police officers in dealing with offenders in possession of small
amounts of cannabis for personal use. Should the decision be taken to
reclassify cannabis to a class B, Acpo believes the service should retain
this flexibility in dealing with instances of possession on the street,
including the discretion to issue warnings in appropriate cir***stances".
The 2005 Serious and Organised Crime and Policing Act introduced new
criteria for making an arrest which emphasised that it had to be necessary
because, for example, the officer doubted whether he had been given a real
name or a valid address by the offender. The number of cannabis warnings
issued has spiralled to more than 100,000 since its legal status was
downgraded; that forms an im****tant part of the ability of the police to
meet their national target for the number of offences brought to justice.
In legal terms, the move back to class B means the maximum prison sentence
for possession will be increased from two to five years.
--
Dr John Watson
Baker Street
|
