LONDON COPS EASE UP ON CANNABIS

London's police force, Britain's biggest, said on Friday it was going ahead
with a pilot scheme which will tell police officers to take a more relaxed
attitude towards cannabis possession.

Under the scheme to be operated in the south London area of Lambeth,
offenders caught with cannabis will be given a verbal warning rather than
face an official caution or arrest.

"We can confirm that a pilot scheme will be launched in Lambeth. It will be
then be evaluated to see if it is worthwhile for it to go force-wide," a
Scotland Yard spokeswoman told Reuters.

"The officer will seize the cannabis, and it will be signed for by the
suspect. It will be sealed and disposed of," Commander Brian Paddick, who
came up with the scheme, said in a statement.

"The person in possession has to accept the warning otherwise they will be
arrested."

In Britain a verbal warning is a less serious penalty than a formal
caution. Currently courts can still jail offenders for cannabis possession.

Paddick said the initiative would free police officers to focus on more
serious drug-related crimes.

"I've never met anyone who had to commit crime to fund a cannabis habit,
but crack cocaine users commit robbery, burglary and car crime," Paddick
was quoted as saying in the Guardian newspaper.

Scotland Yard say gun murders in London, many of which have been linked to
gang rivalry for control of the lucrative cocaine trade, tripled in April
and May this year compared with the same period in 2000.

But Scotland Yard's decision is likely to meet with disapproval from
politicians. All the main political parties are determined not to be seen
as "soft on drugs" and are adamant that cannabis should not be decriminalised.

However a poll commissioned by the Guardian newspaper last year suggested
politicians were out of step with public opinion as 80 percent of Britons
thought cannabis should be decriminalised. Two-thirds of 18-34 year-olds
considered smoking a joint to be no worse than smoking a cigarette or
drinking alcohol.