HIGH TIME FOR CHANGE

ROLL up, roll up... get your hash here! Every ounce comes with a
government-produced guide on what to buy and where to buy it. Classes
available so you too can learn to roll your own... which would you prefer,
sir, Moroccan Black, Lebanese Red or Blunkett Blue?

Britain held its breath and took, if not a giant leap, then a tentative hop
forward last week with the announcement by David Blunkett that cannabis is
to be downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug. While possession will
still officially be an offence, the Home Secretary's decision means that a
year from now, when his policy change comes into effect, possession of the
drug for personal use will no longer lead to automatic arrest, in England
and Wales at least.

If stopped by the police users will instead be cautioned and have their
cannabis confiscated. By doing this Blunkett has adopted a liberal
principle: indulge your vice as long as you are not harming anyone else.
The separate Scottish legal system means that someone caught with cannabis
north of the Border could still be arrested and reported to the procurator
fiscal, something which requires the attention of the Scottish Executive.

Predictably, there has been a lot of hot air expelled over the rights and
wrongs of relaxing the existing laws but, in truth, Blunkett's step is long
overdue. It is, for example, an open secret that a number of progressive
police forces, including Lothian and Borders, have been turning a blind eye
to small-scale cannabis use for some time.

The politicians have long been running behind the electorate on this issue.
Opinion polls have shown the public would rather the police spent their
time chasing down the dealers of hard drugs such as heroin and crack
cocaine - the true menaces that threaten the fabric of society - than
lifting teenagers caught with a joint.

There is no longer any social stigma attached to soft drug use, and the
statistics bear this out. One third of people aged 16-59 have tried drugs.
Half of those aged 16-29 have tried cannabis.

While there is evidence that drug addicts begin with marijuana, their
addiction should not be blamed on that one experience but on individual
foible, and those who become hooked on heroin are likely to end up that way
whether cannabis is decriminalised or not. It is also worth noting that the
percentage of cannabis users who end up as junkies is minute, and that most
people flirt with use only briefly. In fact, a far more damaging drug is
already legal and readily available - alcohol. Alcohol wrecks lives and
families and too often transforms people into violent thugs. Cannabis turns
them into droning, lethargic bores.

With its announcement last week the government went as far as it believed
the British people are prepared to go at this stage, and a situation where
small scale users go unpunished, but dealers do not, is probably the right
one for the present climate.

But Blunkett's move raises anomalies that will have to be addressed. If
people can use cannabis without fear of arrest, why does the supply of this
drug remain punishable by a lengthy jail term? And why allow the lucrative
profits from what can be a less harmful pastime than drinking to pour into
the pockets of dealers who also offer more destructive drugs for sale?

There is a need to put a firewall between cannabis and harder drugs and the
most effective way of doing this would be to legalise both its use and
supply. Such a step would allow supply to be carefully controlled, and
would mean fewer users would come into contact with heroin and crack. We
have taken a little hop - it is time to prepare for a giant leap.