BRITISH PANEL WANTS TRUCE IN DRUG WAR

1971 LAW CALLED TOO TOUGH ON MARIJUANA, LSD

London -- The swinging '60s were lively and creative years in this
country as Britain exported such cultural phenomena as the Beatles and
the miniskirt that caught on around the world.

But the freewheeling decade also had its dark side. There was an
explosion in drug use, and by 1971, the government reported that
Britain had nearly 3,000 known drug addicts, an alarming figure.

This disturbing news led to a tough new criminal statute, the Misuse
of Drugs Act, which set off an American-style war on drugs.

The result? Over the three decades since the law was passed, drug
offenses have risen tenfold, and the number of known addicts now tops
43,000. Britain has the toughest drug laws in Western Europe -- and
the fastest rate of growth in drug use.

To figure out why the law failed to meet its goals, the national
Police Foundation set up a blue-ribbon commission of police officers,
academics and politicians to conduct a two-year study of British drug
policy. The group's report, ``Drugs and the Law,'' came out this week
and concluded that the 1971 law ``produces more harm than it prevents.''

The study argues that the law is too tough on such ``soft'' drugs as
marijuana and the psychedelic substances LSD and ecstasy.

Most drug crimes in Britain involve marijuana -- about 80,000 of the
115,000 drug cases each year. But polls show that most Britons
consider marijuana -- or cannabis, as it is known in Britain -- less
dangerous than tobacco.

The tough stance on marijuana, therefore, has made people distrust
drug laws in general because of the focus on a drug they do not think
is dangerous, thus undermining ``credibility, respect for law and the
police, and accurate education messages,'' the study says.

The commission concluded that Britain should move away from the
American model of tougher enforcement and longer prison sentences and
move instead in the direction of other democracies in Western Europe,
where possession of many drugs and hallucinogens has been
decriminalized. In most of Western Europe, use of marijuana or LSD
draws a fine, like a parking ticket.

``Depenalizing cannabis in Britain would reflect practice in Spain,
Italy, Portugal, much of Scandinavia, most German (states) . . . and
Holland,'' said commission member Simon Jenkins, a columnist for the
Times of London. All those countries, he said, ``have lower
consumption rates than Britain.''

The panel said police should focus their efforts on people who use and
sell cocaine and heroin, the most dangerous drugs.

It also said that mere possession of marijuana, ecstasy, LSD,
barbiturates and amphetamines no longer should draw a jail term, only
fines. About 90 percent of the drug convictions here each year are for
possession, the report said, because users generally are easier to
catch than traffickers.

The commission also compared two legal substances, alcohol and
tobacco, against a range of illegal drugs in terms of health risks. It
concluded that both alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than marijuana.

For all the work that went into the study, however, it may turn out to
be just another blue-ribbon report that is shelved.

Jack Straw, Britain's home secretary -- roughly equivalent to the job
of attorney general in the United States -- said he did not agree that
reducing penalties for possession would alleviate the nation's drug
problem.