U.K. MOVES TO EASE LAWS ON CANNABIS

Blair Plan Would Downgrade Marijuana To Focus Police Efforts On Harder Drugs

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair's government moved Wednesday to relax
its laws on marijuana, stopping short of legalization but guaranteeing that
most users will get off with just a warning while police focus their
enforcement efforts on harder drugs.

Under the proposal, marijuana would be downgraded from a Class B to a Class
C drug, making its use and possession less serious crimes, Home Secretary
David Blunkett said in outlining the plan to the House of Commons. Police
would retain the authority to arrest those caught with marijuana but in
most cases would simply confiscate the drug and issue a warning.

"The message to young people and families must be open, honest and
believable," Blunkett said. "Cannabis is a potentially harmful drug and
should remain illegal. However, it is not comparable with crack, heroin and
'ecstasy.' "

The proposed downgrade would put marijuana on a par with anabolic steroids
instead of amphetamines and barbiturates, the drugs it is grouped with now.
Blair's Labor Party has a large majority in Parliament, and the proposal is
virtually certain to pass.

Blair said the proposal did not amount to decriminalization and had wide
support among police because it would allow them to spend more time
fighting more serious drugs.

"The power to arrest remains, but 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, and that is why the
proposals are supported by the chief police officers and the Metropolitan
Police," he told the House of Commons.

The opposition Conservative Party criticized the proposal as potentially
dangerous to the public, and a government adviser resigned in protest.

In Britain, possession of a Class B drug currently carries a maximum
penalty of five years in jail.

Possession of a Class C drug carries a maximum sentence of two years, but
the Home Office said that penalty is rarely invoked for first-time
offenders, who normally receive only a ticket.

Blunkett said that in most marijuana possession cases, police would simply
confiscate the drug and issue a warning to the offender.

But, he said, the proposed rules would give officers the power to arrest
those possessing small amounts of pot if public order is threatened or
children are put at risk.

A Home Office spokesman said Blunkett could order marijuana reclassified,
but because he wants to modify the rules to make sure officers retain the
power to arrest, the change must be approved by Parliament, which approves
virtually anything Blair requests.

Blunkett said he hoped to have the reclassification in place by July 2003.

In London, though, the change could come more quickly.

Blunkett said the Metropolitan Police would, over the next several months,
expand to the entire city a pilot project launched in the Brixton
neighborhood to experiment with ticketing marijuana users instead of
arresting them.

Oliver Letwin, the Conservative Party spokesman on law and order issues,
called the proposal "muddled and dangerous," saying Blunkett had failed to
choose between legalizing marijuana and getting serious about arresting
those who use it.

"You need to explain how, with a policy that consists of deeply confusing
mixed messages, you can conceivably expect to reduce drug dependency and
criminality in this country," he said.

Blunkett said the proposed downgrade would be accompanied by a beefed- up
anti-drug education campaign.