MAGISTRATES MAY ASK FOR CANNABIS TO BE REGRADED

Magistrates are to consider asking the Government to reverse the
controversial reclassification of cannabis, it was revealed today.

A motion at the Magistrates Association's annual conference will
claim that moving the drug from Class B to Class C has led to
greater use of the drug and given out the wrong messages to young people.

JPs will discuss next month whether to call on ministers to overturn
the downgrading of the drug, which came into force in January 2004.

The motion was put forward by members of the association's youth
courts committee including vice-chairman Ted Weston of the
Buckinghamshire bench.

It was proposed by Roger Davy from the West Yorkshire bench. The
motion said: "This annual general meeting considers that the impact
of reclassifying cannabis from Class B to Class C has given out the
wrong messages to young people and led to greater use of the drug
to the detriment of young people.

"It urges the Government to return to the original classification of
Class B for young people under 18."

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett moved cannabis to Class C -
making possession a non-arrestable offence in most cases - to give
police more time to concentrate on tackling hard drugs like heroin and crack.

In January this year, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he
would not toughen cannabis penalties despite fresh fears about its
side-effects. He also signalled a radical overhaul of Britain's
system for classifying illegal drugs.

Experts are working on plans for a complete overhaul of the way
drugs are categorised and prohibited, which dates back to the 1971
Misuse of Drugs Act.

The Police Federation, which represents 138,000 frontline officers,
has said the reclassification was a mistake, but the policy has been
consistently backed by chief constables' group, the Association of
Chief Police Officers.

In June this year the decision to downgrade was criticised by the
head of the United Nations anti-drugs department.

Executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Antonio Maria
Costa, said countries got the "drug problem they deserved" if they
maintained inadequate policies.

In an unusual statement, he suggested cannabis was as harmful as
cocaine and heroin - a stance which differs wildly from the British
attitude of treating cannabis far less seriously than Class A substances.