DON'T GO SOFT ON CANNABIS

THE Government is being urged not to legalise the use of cannabis for
medical treatment.

Police chiefs are strongly opposed to the move on the grounds that drug
users will escape prosecution for possession by claiming they are
undergoing treatment.

The Police Superintendents' Association, meeting in Bristol this week, will
ask home Secretary Jack Straw to fund research into the therapeutic uses of
cannabis so that proper controls can be introduced. It points to the
American experience where police have given up prosecuting drug users in
some states because courts routinely accept medical usage as a defence.

But the Association which has campaigned against the legalisation of
cannabis because of its proven damaging effects and links with crime, is
generally in favour of the Government's 10-year drugs strategy..

The superintendents - the frontline operational managers of the police
service - are also set for confrontation with ministers over plans to
reduce the prison population and save money by finding alternatives to
custodial sentences. The central theme of their annual conference will be
a debate on the subject Does Prison Work? At which controversial former
Director-General of the Prison service, Derek Lewis, will be a guest speaker.

The president, Superintendent Peter Gammon, is expected to tell the Home
Secretary that prison is the only acceptable penalty for persistent
offenders even if their crimes are not serious.

He will produce figures showing that reductions in crime are directly
proportional to an increase in the prison population.

The superintendents argue that the greater the number of offenders locked
up, the less the public are subjected to crime, disorder and fear. This
situation increases the economic, social and political well-being of the
country, they say.

They strongly favour new measures brought in under the Crime and Disorder
Act to reduce crime by cracking down on anti-social behaviour among
youngsters.

Chief Supt. Gammon said: 'Unless we take a tough stance and oppose the
dubious penal reform that is being proposed by some, ultimately society
will pay both in terms of the impact on the individual crime victim and the
wider social issues.'

Checked-by: Richard Lake