SCOTTISH POLICE TO RETAIN HARDER LINE ON CANNABIS

SCOTTISH police forces are unlikely to adopt the same cannabis-friendly
stance as their English counterparts after ruling out the relaxation of
drug laws north of the Border.

From July next year, cannabis smokers caught in possession of the drug in
England and Wales will escape with no more than a warning when the drug is
reclassified under sweeping changes instigated by David Blunkett, the Home
Secretary.

Instead of instant prosecution, offenders found in possession of the drug
will be subjected to a new "three-strikes-and-you're-out" strategy which
police claim will ensure problem users are still dealt with and could be
prosecuted through the courts.

Under the new laws, users stopped in the street once or twice with cannabis
will simply have the drug confiscated, be given a formal warning and sent
on their way. But anyone caught three times in a year will face tougher
penalties, including a caution or an arrest and charge for possession.

It is understood that the revised stance on cannabis will come into effect
by next July, once Mr Blunkett has reclassified the drug from Class B to
the less serious Class C in the Misuse of Drugs Act. Yesterday, a source
from ACPOS, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, told The
Scotsman the change in the law in England and Wales was highly unlikely to
affect the stance of officers north of the Border.

He said: "The law on the drug is different here and, as the police see it,
it is unlikely that a three strikes policy would be introduced in Scotland
and the changes that are likely to be introduced in England and Wales will
not apply here.

"It is ultimately up to the Executive, but the stance we are taking on the
issue is, when it comes to cannabis use, police will be given conditional
powers of arrest, whereby the individual officers determine if the offence
relating to the drug merits arrest."

The new guidelines south of the Border were confirmed last night as the
Association of Chief Police Officers' annual drugs conference began in
Blackpool. Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth said a warning would usually
be sufficient in dealing with people caught in possession of cannabis,
freeing up more police resources to tackle problems surrounding harder drugs.

He said: " Cannabis possession will be policed in a way which is not
resource-intensive. In most cases, a warning will be sufficient, together
with confiscation of the drug. But where there are aggravating factors, the
police will retain the power of arrest."

Andy Hayman, chairman of the ACPO drugs sub-committee, said the main reason
behind the new guidelines was to make sure the police across the country
"knew where they stood".

He said: "The whole drive behind these guidelines is to ensure we get
greater consistency in the way that police are applying the law so the
community can understand exactly what they are going to get from police
officers.

"At the moment, there are so many informal responses on the street, people
are being treated in different ways across the country."

In the experiment in Lambeth, south London, where officers were first told
not to arrest cannabis users for possessing the drug, police were often
challenged and left not knowing how to treat users in "flagrant" breach of
the law.