SOFTEN LAW ON ECSTASY, SAYS POLICE INQUIRY

Ecstasy, said to be used by half a million people every weekend in Britain's
dance clubs, should no longer be treated as a class-A drug such as heroin,
but instead should be downgraded and classed as a soft drug such as
cannabis, a Police Federation inquiry will recommend next month. The two and
half year inquiry enjoys semi-official status with home secretary Jack Straw
who, after rejecting calls for a royal commission into drugs, said he would
wait for the federation report before considering if any change is needed to
Britain's 30-year-old drug laws. Although the popularity of ecstasy and
other amphetamine derivatives peaked in 1996 when police forces seized some
5.75m doses, they have started to make a comeback - the seizure of 2m doses
in 1998 was the second highest figure ever recorded.

Any decision to remove ecstasy from the group of drugs which are highly
addictive would mark a sharp change in official policy.

It would also be sure to spark a fierce reaction from anti-drug campaigners
and the families of ecstasy victims such as the Essex teenager Leah Betts.
As a class-A drug, possession of ecstasy attracts a sentence of up to six
months but this would be reduced to a maximum of three months or a UKP 200
fine if it were reclassified as a class-C drug.

Most ecstasy taken in the UK is made in the Netherlands and smuggled into
Britain. About 3,000 people were convicted of ecstasy related offences in
1998. The Police Federation inquiry is chaired by Lady Runciman, the former
head of the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs, and
includes two chief constables as well as former home office civil servants
on its team. It is expected to recommend that instead of imprisoning people
caught possessing cannabis, the offence should be treated as a minor civil
offence. This policy of "penalisation" stops far short of decriminalisation
because cautions and fines would still be widely used.

However, it is expected to recommend that those caught in possession of more
than two grams of cannabis - enough to make five joints - should be treated
as dealers by the police and the courts and face much tougher penalties.
Drug law reform campaigners fear this will be a retrograde step. The change
of classification for ecstasy would mean much more lenient penalties and end
cases where teenagers have been jailed for supplying a small group of
friends with a tablet each.

Figures published yesterday showed that 127,900 people were found guilty of
drug offences last year - 90% of them for possession of cannabis, most of
whom were cautioned or fined.

The number of offences rose 13% on 1998. Despite claims that the police
increasingly turn a blind eye to cannabis possession, the figures show that
there has been a massive increase in cannabis arrests in the last decade.

In 1988 only 30,500 were arrested for drug offences in England and Wales.
The figures show that last year 5,700 people were jailed for possession of
drugs - but they do not spell out how many were for cannabis alone.

The drugs tsar, Keith Hellawell, yesterday insisted after meeting Tony Blair
at 10 Downing Street, that his 10-year strategy was not failing and was
given the public backing of the prime minister. "These figures prove we are
clamping down on drugs with the arrest of more offenders and more seizures."
But the government is coming under renewed pressure to set up a royal
commission to look at the possibility of legalising soft drugs such as
cannabis. The Cleveland police force has become the first to question
whether the "war on drugs" can ever be won and suggest that legalisation
might be the only serious alternative.