PUBLIC ENDORSES SOFT LINE ON CANNABIS POSSESSION

Two out of three people in Britain agree that police should not make
prosecution for possession of cannabis a priority, according to the
results of the July Guardian/ICM opinion poll.

The survey implies widespread public endorsement for the six-month
experiment in Lambeth under which police are not charging people
found with small amounts of cannabis in their possession. The ICM
survey found that 65% of voters said that cannabis possession should
be the lowest priority for the police when they were asked to compare
its importance with street robbers, burglars, heroin users and car
thieves.

Fifty-seven per cent also thought that police operations targeting
cannabis dealers should have a lower priority than using resources to
tackle drink driving (11%), sex assaults (3%), racial violence (5%)
and heroin dealers (4%). When asked to choose which should have the
lowest priority 21% said they did not know.

The findings will be a significant boost to those who want to reform
Britain's drugs laws and indicates that the recent debate does
reflect a change in public attitudes.

Only 18% now say that the personal use of cannabis should remain a
criminal act with typical penalties of a caution or a fine.

Some 27% now say that the personal use of cannabis should remain
illegal but the police should not make prosecution a priority. This
is significant because last year 97,000 people were prosecuted and
mostly fined or cautioned for possession of cannabis. A small number
were jailed.

A further 37% say that the personal use of cannabis should be
legalised now. Opposition is strongest among the over-65s, where only
27% support legalisation.