BRITAIN CUTS SOME SLACK FOR POT SMOKERS

Ticket, Small Fine More Likely Than Arrest Or Jail

LONDON -- In a major relaxation of drug laws, British Prime Minister Tony
Blair's government announced Wednesday that marijuana laws would be eased
so that people who use small quantities of the drug will not face arrest.

The controversial reclassification of marijuana from a Class B to a Class C
drug will take effect next July, British Home Secretary David Blunkett said.

Mr. Blunkett said the new law stopped short of decriminalization of
marijuana but would allow police to focus on hard drug users and dealers.

"The message to young people and families must be open, honest and
believable," he told Parliament. "Cannabis is a potentially harmful drug
and should remain illegal. However, it is not comparable with crack, heroin
and ecstasy."

Mr. Blunkett, who announced last year that he intended to make this change,
said marijuana should not be classified in the same way as drugs that kill.

In Britain, possession of a Class B drug carries a maximum penalty of five
years in jail.

Possession of a Class C drug carries a maximum sentence of two years, but
the Home Office said that penalty was rarely invoked for first- time
offenders, who normally receive only a ticket.

Instead of being arrested and possibly put in prison, marijuana users would
face modest fines or other penalties, officials said.

The change in emphasis puts Britain in the forefront of a European movement
toward easing penalties for marijuana use.

Already, there has been a reduction of penalties for marijuana in Portugal,
Spain, Italy and several other countries, including the Netherlands, which
has long tolerated use of marijuana and hashish.

Also, a number of European governments advocate approaches that focus on
"harm reduction," seen as reducing the damage to drug users' lives, instead
of prosecuting them.

Additionally, experts said, these countries have increased the level of
resources spent on drug prevention and treatment.

The British proposal to reduce penalties for marijuana has received strong
support from police chiefs and police associations.

Law enforcement officials have argued that it was unrealistic to expect
young people to respect a legal system that permitted tobacco and alcohol
use but treated marijuana as a life-threatening substance.

But the policy was opposed by the government's drug czar, Keith Hellawell,
who resigned early Wednesday to protest the loosening of marijuana laws.

He said he believed that the tolerant approach is misguided because
marijuana smoking can lead to dangerous hard-drug use.

"It is a softening of the law and it's giving the wrong message," he said.
After marijuana is reclassified, it will be in the same category as
anti-depressants and steroids.

There was also sharp criticism of the policy shift from leading members of
the opposition Conservative Party, who attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair
in a parliamentary confrontation.

"Why should anyone have confidence now in the government's new drugs policy
when your own drugs czar has resigned saying it is all wrong," Conservative
Party leader Ian Duncan Smith said.

He was joined by Oliver Letwin, the Conservative Party spokesman on law and
order issues, who said Mr. Blunkett should have made a clear choice, either
legalizing marijuana or making a serious commitment to enforcing existing laws.

Instead of taking a stand, he said the government had chosen a "muddled and
dangerous" course.

"You need to explain how, with a policy that consists of deeply confusing
mixed messages, you can conceivably expect to reduce drug dependency and
criminality in this country," he said in Parliament.

Mr. Blair, in response, said the policy shift would give police more leeway
when dealing with marijuana smokers.

He said that marijuana use would "remain a criminal offense" and that more
resources could be used against drug dealers of all types, including those
who specialize in marijuana.

Mr. Blunkett said the proposed downgrade would be accompanied by a
beefed-up anti-drug education campaign, teaching young people that all
drugs can harm them and that hard drugs can kill.

The policy change follows an experimental program that began last summer in
the London neighborhood of Brixton that allowed police to ticket marijuana
users rather than arrest them.

Mr. Blunkett said the program had been judged a success by London police
and would be extended throughout London.

Police studies have found that this policy freed officers from spending
long hours processing paperwork from marijuana arrests and allowed them to
focus on arresting traffickers.

He also said police would still have the authority to arrest marijuana
smokers in "aggravated" cases, such as when it is smoked in public near
children. The change in approach in Britain and the rest of Europe has been
criticized by Bush administration drug officials who say they are not in
favor of any laws that encourage a proliferation of drug use.