PLUNGE IN CANNABIS ARRESTS

ARRESTS for cannabis possession have dropped by a third after the drug
was reclassified from Class B to the less serious Class C last
January, new figures will reveal this week.

Home Office insiders said police can now spend 200,000 extra hours
every year fighting hard drugs.

A Whitehall source added: "Their time is much better spent tackling
those peddling Class A drugs like heroin."

The charity Drugscope welcomed the figures but a spokesman said:
"People should not be misled into thinking that cannabis use has
dropped by 33 per cent."

A quarter of 16 to 24-year-olds use the drug - more than twice the
world average.

Reclassification means they are unlikely to be arrested if caught.