BRITAIN EASES POT LAWS

Country To Focus On Fight Against Hard Drugs

London - Smoking pot in Britain without fear of arrest will be a reality by
next summer as the government virtually decriminalized cannabis on
Wednesday to give police more time to fight the use of hard drugs.

The decision by Home Secretary David Blunkett to reclassify cannabis is
risky as critics fear it sends the wrong message and could encourage
children to take up smoking marijuana.

The government has downgraded cannabis to a Class C drug, putting it at the
same level as anabolic steroids and anti-depressants.

And while that means it is still a criminal offence to possess pot, in most
cases police will be instructed not to charge people if they smoke it for
their own personal use.

"Cannabis is a potentially harmful drug and should remain illegal,"
Blunkett told the House of Commons. "However, it is not comparable with
crack, heroin and ecstasy."

By maintaining provisions of the law that make possession a criminal
offence, Blunkett argued the government is ensuring that police can
properly keep order on Britain's streets.

"They will be able to arrest for possession where public order is
threatened or where children are at risk."

In Canada, the government has allowed doctors to prescribe marijuana for
medical use in some cases, but it has resisted calls from some MPs and
municipalities to decriminalize pot for personal use.

The downgrading of cannabis caused Britain's top anti-drug official to
resign in protest as he described the policy as the virtual
decriminalization of cannabis.

"Cannabis is simply not a sensible substance for people to take," said
Keith Hellawell, a former police chief.

"There are strains of cannabis which are extremely powerful, hallucinogenic
and very dangerous."

The government's decision follows an experiment in Brixton, south London,
where police officers stopped arresting people for using pot to concentrate
on busting dealers.

The pilot scheme has drawn mixed reviews in the poor London borough, which
was evident at a public meeting held by the Conservative party on the eve
of Blunkett's announcement.

"The only thing it has done around here is to make drugs acceptable," said
Pauline Cummings, 50, who is a foster mother in the neighbourhood.

"Drugs are becoming part of the way of life for children. They're growing
up with it all around them, and not just cannabis."

Others, however, praised the program.

"Police time is being wasted, they are spending three or four hours on a
cannabis suspect when they could be concentrating on the harder drugs,"
said Huey Rose, 32, a youth worker.

Blunkett said the pilot program in Brixton has meant a 10 per cent increase
in the number of dealers arrested for selling hard drugs.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said the policy has support from police
departments across the country who are tired of wasting their time on
marijuana arrests.

"What reclassification does is allow the police, where they think it right,
to focus on hard drug dealing and drug dealing of any description,
including cannabis," he said during question period in the House.

Possession of a Class B drug carries a maximum penalty of five years in
jail, while the sentence is two years for Class C drugs. The two-year
sentence is rarely invoked for first-time offenders, who usually end up
with a ticket.