CITY'S PROBLEMS CONTINUE TO RISE

WHEN the "softly softly" approach to cannabis use was introduced in Lambeth
by controversial police commander Brian Paddick a year ago, the idea was to
help overworked officers stem the rising tide of hard drugs and associated
crime.

But in Brixton yesterday, the only consensus seemed to be that the
borough's drug problems had increased. "It's got much worse," said Chris
Sanger, 60, who was out walking in Loughborough park, with her daughter and
grand-daughter. "There was always a problem, but now you see dealers
everywhere. They're never away from the bottom of our street, in the pubs,
everywhere."

Chris Gunning, 30, a teacher, agreed, saying that dealing had become "more
shameless and blatant".

He added: "I can't walk from Brixton tube to my door without being stopped
four or five times, asked if I want hash or skunk. I can see where they
were going with this initiative, but what worries me is what else are they
selling?

"I suspect it's the same dealers who are dealing both. If kids can get hold
of hash easily, and they can, then how do we know what else they can get
hold of?"

Unlike community leaders and MPs who have criticised the Paddick approach
for being too soft on drugs, many people in Brixton felt that the solution
lay in the other direction.

The failure of the "softly, softly" approach, said Mr Gunning, is that it
doesn't go far enough: "If you are going to decriminalise it, then you
should go all the way and legalise it - start selling it in hash cafes.
That 's the only way to make sure that people aren't exposed to harder
drugs. Dope is the least of our problems round here."

Even among Commander Paddick's staunchest supporters, there was a feeling
that his approach had stopped short of its target. "They use the weed as a
front to all the other drugs, so he should legalise it all together," said
Carmen MacKendrick, 50, who admitted to having smoked cannabis all her
life. "We don't want our children getting hold of coke."

"The government are giving out mixed messages," said Jo Maher, 25. "If you
give increased sentences for dealers in cannabis, then, to them, they might
as well take a risk on harder drugs."