SMOKE SCARE

It is not often that The Observer plays on fears of 'mayhem on the
streets'. But this was the response of your editorial to Police Federation
claims (News, last week) that downgrading cannabis had resulted in drug
dealers 'openly flouting the law' and users brazenly taunting the police.

Only a very stupid dealer would want to attract police attention. The
maximum prison sentence for supplying cannabis is still 14 years. For
possession it is now two years.

The Association of Chief Police Officers guidance on the cannabis laws
clearly states that officers can arrest anyone 'smoking in public and
flouting the law'.

There is an element of discretion, as there always was. Certainly, nobody
is asking police officers to put up with people 'blowing dope smoke in
their faces'.

Cannabis is not harmless, but some drugs are more damaging than others, and
it is right for the police to prioritise such hard drugs as heroin and crack.

Before the law changed, policing cannabis took up an estimated 770,000
hours a year - the equivalent of 500 full-time officers. This was not a
desirable use of time, and it hardly squared with public priorities for
policing.

Dr Marcus Roberts

Head of Policy, DrugScope

London SE1