WILL LEEDS GO SOFT ON CANNABIS?

A CONTROVERSIAL Cannabis Scheme Could Soon Arrive On The Streets Of Leeds.

Home Secretary David Blunkett is set to announce major changes to the
country's drug laws later this month. And speculation is mounting that an
experiment in the London borough of Lambeth - where people are now let off
with a warning for cannabis possession - will be extended to Leeds and a
number of other cities.

By relaxing the police stance on cannabis, the aim is to free up resources
for tackling other problems such as street crime and hard drugs and today
Leeds North West MP Harold Best said he would welcome the move.

Mr Best said: "In respect of drug abuse, cannabis is the least of our
worries. Let's concentrate on the real villains and really damaging drugs."

In its first six months the Lambeth scheme was estimated to have saved 1,350
hours of police time.

In addition, the borough has reported marked drops in the number of
robberies and muggings.

Oppose

However, Leeds drug tsar Keith Lawrence said today that he would be firmly
against any attempt to replicate the Lambeth experiment locally.

Mr Lawrence, co-ordinator of the Leeds Drug Action Team, stressed that he
had not been made aware of plans to roll out the scheme: "The jury is still
very much out on what has been happening in Lambeth."

West Yorkshire Police would strongly oppose the move.

The policy announcement expected from Mr Blunkett this month follows a
report by a group of MPs.

Evidence considered by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee included
the findings of the YEP-backed Leeds Drugs Inquiry.

A Home Office spokesman confirmed today the future of the Lambeth scheme
would remain up in the air until an announcement was made.

Raid Nets Cocaine Worth UKP34,000

DRUG squad officers have seized cocaine and amphetamines with an estimated
street value of almost UKP34,000.

Acting Det Sgt Andrew Howard, the officer in charge of the operation, said
today that the haul was "one of the biggest" in South Leeds.

The "knock-on" effect of the raid on the house in the Belle Isle area would
be felt by drug dealers across the city, he added.

Uniformed police and officers from the Holbeck Drugs Team swooped on the
home in Grange Fields Road just after 3pm last Friday.

They found more than three kilos of amphetamine in vacuum packs and two
ounces of cocaine. The drugs were hidden in the kitchen, a bedroom, an
out-house and in the grounds of the building.

A vacuum packing machine and equipment believed to be used to 'cut' the
drugs with other substances were also removed by police.

A man was arrested at the scene and taken away for questioning.

The drugs are being tested for purity, but according to Act Det Sgt Howard
the street price for amphetamine, or 'speed', was about UKP10,000 per kg and
UKP1,650 per ounce for cocaine.

* A 42-year-old Leeds man appeared at Leeds Magistrates' Court yesterday
charged with drug trafficking offences.

UKP2.2m funding for blitz on Yorks dealers

THE war on West Yorkshire's heroin and cocaine dealers was today handed a
multi-million-pound boost.

Just over UKP2.2m is being pumped by the Home Office into efforts to crack
down on the trade in class A drugs and related crime across the county.

Leeds has won the biggest slice of that funding, with more than UKP900,000
being released to the city's community safety partnership.

Home Office Minister John Denham said: "Class A drugs and crime are clearly
linked."

Individual towns and cities will have the final say on how to spend the
money, though the Home Office has indicated a number of priorities including
more high-visibility policing in drug blackspots.