SOFTER LINE FOR CANNABIS LAWS

The home secretary is expected to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous
drug on Wednesday but ignore calls for Ecstasy to be downgraded.

His announcement to change cannabis from a class B to a class C drug will
form part of the government's response to the findings of the Home Affairs
Select Committee.

It will not please Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, who on Tuesday
urged the government to abandon plans to downgrade cannabis after visiting
Brixton, which has practised a "softly, softly" approach to drugs.

He adopted his tough stance after local residents told him drug dealing had
spiralled since police relaxed their stance on marijuana a year ago.

The Select Committee said drugs policy should focus on tackling the
problems caused by heroin addicts.

It also recommended moving Ecstasy from class A to B, but Home Secretary
David Blunkett is expected to reject this.

Political gamble

The BBC's political correspondent Andrew Marr said relaxation of the law
was a big risk for the government.

He said: "This is a gamble. Nobody actually knows how it is going to affect
life on the streets and how it's going to affect crime.

"Is this going to be the start of a slither downhill to more and more hard
drugs being sold, bringing more people into the drugs culture or is it
going to help cut crime and make a big distinction between cannabis, which
huge numbers of younger people in particular smoke and the other drugs
considered to be more dangerous?

"I think it's a risk too for the Conservatives."

The government signalled its intention to downgrade cannabis last October.

Since then, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, comprising medical
experts, and the all-party select committee have both backed the idea.

Ministers said moving cannabis to class C, where possession is no longer an
arrestable offence, would give their drug policy greater credibility among
young people and help police direct resources towards heroin and cocaine.

Tougher sentencing

However, amid concern that the move may encourage drug taking, maximum
sentences for supplying class C drugs are likely to be increased for
cannabis and measures may be introduced to ensure cannabis users don't
flout the new rules on possession.

The "softly, softly" experiment in Brixton, was introduced by former
Lambeth police commander Brian Paddick.

Under the scheme, those found carrying small amounts of cannabis are given
a warning by police, rather than prosecuted.

After speaking to local residents during his visit to Brixton, Mr Duncan
Smith said the trial was simply "handing over drugs policy to criminals on
the street".

He said: "We are saying to the home secretary: Stop and think again,
because this is not the way to go about it."

The Lambeth scheme was launched to give police more time to combat hard drugs.

Last week Mr Paddick defended the project saying there was no evidence to
show his relaxed approach had attracted an influx of "drugs tourists" to
Brixton.

Figures from Scotland Yard last month showed street crime in Lambeth had
fallen dramatically.