BRITISH COMMISSION CONCLUDES TOUGH DRUG LAW 'PRODUCES MORE HARM'

LONDON, March 29 96 The swinging '60s were lively and creative years in
this country as Britain exported cultural phenomena that caught on around
the world - the Beatles, the miniskirt, etc. 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 to officials.

This disturbing news led to a tough new criminal statute, the Misuse of
Drugs Act, which triggered an American-style war on drugs. The result? Over
the three decades since the law was passed, drug offenses have risen
tenfold; 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 is actually too tough, at least on such "soft" drugs as
marijuana and the psychedelic substances LSD and ecstasy.

"The present law," the commission concluded, "produces more harm than it
prevents." 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 here--less dangerous than
tobacco. The tough stance on marijuana, therefore, has made people distrust
drug laws in general because it focuses on a drug they don't 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 noted, "have lower consumption rates than Britain."

The commission also said police should focus their efforts on people who
use and sell cocaine and heroin, the most dangerous drugs. It 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. The best way to fight drug use, Straw
said, is to "maintain firm controls," so he had "no intention" of changing
the 1971 law.