REID VOWS TO GET TOUGH ON DRUG USERS

DRUG users caught in possession of as few as five ecstasy tablets
or enough cannabis for just ten joints could face up to 14 years in
jail for dealing under proposals being considered at Westminster.

New Home Secretary John Reid is looking at tough thresholds on the
amount of illegal substances classified as merely possession rather
than intent to supply under the latest anti-drugs legislation.

The move is a radical U-turn from his predecessor but one in the job
David Blunkett, who 18 months ago took the decision to reclassify
cannabis as a Class C rather than a Class B drug and recommend it to
the police that being caught with small quantities of the drug should
normally be dealt with by confiscation and an informal warning.

But now Dr Reid has drawn up Draconian guidelines which will apply to
the whole of the UK.

For cannabis resin the limit would be cut to five grammes compared to
the committee's original suggestion of 133.

Cannabis leaf would also have a five grammes threshold compared to the
initial 500 grammes.

For ecstasy the limit would be five pills against ten while the limit
for amphetamines would be 14 grammes in line with the committee's
original proposal.

Possession of cocaine, heroin or crack cocaine would be just two
grammes against seven.