HOME-GROWN REFORM

PROTECT PRIVATE CANNABIS CULTIVATORS

Even liberal laws can lead to hardline pitfalls. To his credit, the home
secretary agreed to the recommendations of the Police Foundation's inquiry
into the drug laws to downgrade cannabis from category B to C in line with
the risks that the drug poses. It was based on expert evidence that the
30-year-old current law, which is meant to categorise drugs by harmfulness,
no longer reflected scientific, medical or sociological findings. There was
widespread relief, not just in drug treatment circles, but the police too.
About 3 million people use the drug annually, including one-quarter of all
young adults (aged 16 to 29). A war on cannabis is a war on young people.
But to keep rightwingers happy, David Blunkett balanced his package with a
draconian increase in sentences for trafficking in class C drugs - up to 14
years in prison.

New research suggests an increasing proportion of cannabis in the UK is
cultivated by users for personal consumption or use by friends. This trend
has also be seen on the continent, in states like the Netherlands and
Switzerland, which pioneered the sensible policy of separating soft from
hard drugs. In the UK, this separation is still not so clear cut.
Prosecutors have two options in dealing with cultivators: charging them
with production (which is a trafficking offence), or applying the lesser
charge of cultivation, which is on a par with possession. Both charges are
used for similar offences.

There are sound pragmatic reasons for ensuring users who cultivate their
own cannabis are not treated as dealers. Their activities reduce the role
of criminal gangs and destabilise the criminalised cannabis market. Private
cultivators need promoting, not curbing. It is not too late to protect
them. The current criminal justice bill should be amended so that
grow-your-own, like possession, is treated as a minor offence. It could
even win the home secretary some support. Polls suggest 60% of people
believe cannabis should no longer be an offence.