CHANGE LAW ON DRUGS CALL

PENALTIES for the possession of soft drugs should be reduced and tougher
action should be taken against traffickers, according to a major report
published today.

The Independent Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which was set up
by the Police Foundation in August 1997, is calling for a reform of the law.

Its report proposes a new offence aimed at targeting persistent drug dealers
and calls for greater confiscation of assets from traffickers.

The Drugs and the Law report does not suggest any drugs should be legalised
but recommends the classification of individual drugs and associated
penalties should be changed to reflect the relative risks they pose.

Under the recommendations heroin and cocaine would still be in Class A but
Ecstasy and LSD would be moved from Class A to Class B - the same category
as amphetamines. Cannabis would be transferred from Class B to Class C.

Lady Runciman, who chaired the inquiry, said: "We have concluded that the
most dangerous message of all is the message that all drugs are equally
dangerous.

"When young people know that the advice they are being given is either
exaggerated or untrue in relation to less harmful drugs, there is a real
risk they will discount everything else they are told about the most
hazardous drugs, including heroin and cocaine."

The inquiry also recommends prison sentences should be abolished for
possession of Class B and C drugs.