NEW CANNABIS LAW COMES INTO FORCE

Cannabis has now been downgraded to the same status as anabolic
steroids and anti-depressants.

Home Secretary David Blunkett's move to reclassify cannabis - first
set in motion more than two years ago - means possession of the drug
will not lead to arrest in most cases.

In the biggest shake-up of Britain's drug laws for 30 years, cannabis
has been moved from class B to class C.

Police will no longer arrest most of the 80,000 adults a year who are
currently charged with possession offences.

Mr Blunkett admitted last week that he expected the move would lead
him to "take a bit of stick over the next few weeks".

Because of reclassification, the law has been changed to allow
officers to arrest for possession of class C drugs.

But the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has drawn up
guidelines which say arrests should only be made in aggravated
circumstances, such as smoking a joint outside schools.

Under the new law, cannabis possession will be illegal but will
"ordinarily not be an arrestable offence". Instead, police will give
an on-the-spot warning and the drug will be confiscated.

It remains unclear how closely forces will stick to the Acpo
guidelines. A survey by The Guardian newspaper last week indicated
that some forces - such as Gloucestershire, Derbyshire and
Hertfordshire - will continue to arrest cannabis users even for
possession of small amounts, while others had introduced the "softly,
softly" approach ahead of the formal change. Under the ACPO rules,
aggravating features leading to arrest are: Smoking the drug in
public; repeat offending; possession of the drug inside or near places
where there are children, including schools and youth clubs; where
users are causing a "local policing problem" which is creating a "fear
of public disorder".