SENTENCES TO BE DOUBLED FOR DEALING IN CANNABIS

Sentences for cannabis dealers will be doubled in a last-minute attempt to
offset the effect of reclassifying the drug, according to leaked Home
Office correspondence unveiled yesterday.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, is trying to head off charges of being
too soft on cannabis ahead of new figures showing that, despite five years
of Labour pledges to be "tough on crime", crime rates are soaring.

Mr Blunkett is under pressure from Tony Blair to deliver results at a time
when his department's budget and his requests for extra cash are being
scrutinised ahead of next week's spending review.

A Government order will be put before Parliament to reclassify cannabis
from a Class B to a Class C drug, following a recommendation in the home
affairs Select Committee's report on the drug problem.

Critics say the move is tantamount to decriminalisation because it ensures
that police will lose all incentives to pursue those who use the drug.

Doubling sentences for dealing, on the other hand, puts the crime on a
level with violent assault and gun crime.

Drugs campaigners warned that the contrast between tougher sentences for
dealers and reduced penalties for possession of cannabis would leave the
public confused .

In a letter to John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who chairs the
Cabinet's domestic affairs sub-committee, Mr Blunkett tried to reconcile
both approaches.

"It is not intended that reclassification should distract in any way from
the simple message that all controlled drugs, including cannabis, are harmful."

Government takes the supply and dealing of cannabis very seriously and
accordingly it intends to bring forward legislation to increase the maximum
penalty for supplying and dealing Class C drugs from five to 10 years'
imprisonment," he added, according to the Observer.

The debate over the Home Office approach to drugs comes as it prepares to
release figures expected to show that crime has risen by six per cent in a
year, to 5.5 million individual cases in England and Wales.

The increase will be dwarfed in October when first figures based on a new
method of counting are released, showing that true crime levels in some
areas are 40 per cent higher than thought.

Mr Blunkett ordered all police forces to record every crime they came
across from April 1.

He has been horrified to find that the results have produced far higher
figures than expected.

This week the final details of the Government's three-year spending plans
are being worked out in meetings between the Treasury and Cabinet ministers
from the major departments.

Mr Blunkett is expected to use the crime figures to show that he will need
a significant increase in resources to deal with the worsening situation.

But the Treasury will demand evidence that any extra cash will not be
absorbed by police pay without significant reforms to working practices.

Customs officers arrested two women at Manchester Airport yesterday after
seizing cocaine worth UKP150,000 pounds from their luggage from Jamaica.
They will appear in court today.