MPS SUPPORT PLANS FOR RADICAL NEW LAWS ON DRUGS

The last political obstacle to the relaxation of Britain's cannabis laws
will be cleared this month when the Commons home affairs select committee
backs plans by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, to downgrade the
classification of the drug, the Guardian has learned.

The all-party committee of MPs has looked at a first draft of the report
and is also likely to call for radical measures to improve the treatment of
heroin users, including wider prescription by family doctors and more use
of diamorphine (medical heroin) to help control the chaotic multi-drug user.

The committee has been struck by overwhelming evidence that Britain's crime
crisis has been fuelled by the use of hard drugs, especially heroin and
crack cocaine, by a small minority of addicts.

Mr Blunkett has said he will only proceed with the reclassification of
cannabis if the committee endorses that proposal. He is also awaiting
Metropolitan Police reports on an extended trial in south London, where
police resources have been directed towards hard drug users rather than
cannabis possession. The Met is likely to back the scheme, despite
resistance from the Police Federation.

The home affairs select committee, which has yet to vote on key
recommendations, is lining up behind a reclassification of cannabis from a
class B drug to class C.

It will either recommend a new offence of possession with intent to supply
commercially, or simply propose abolition of intent to supply altogether. A
third option is to recommend that the Home Office set clear guidelines to
courts on the amount of drugs an individual would have to possess to be
charged with intent to supply.

Either way, possession below these levels would only lead to confiscation
and a simple police written warning, so diverting court and police time to
fight hard drugs.

Arrests for the possession of cannabis rose from 14,857 to 22,303 between
1996 and 2000. However, arrests for supplying or offering to supply
cannabis fell in that period from 1,559 to 1,001.

Mr Blunkett announced the Government's proposal to reclassify cannabis when
he gave evidence to the select committee last October, overturning years of
establishment resistance. Since then, the advisory council on the misuse of
drugs has rejected suggestions that cannabis is a gateway to harder drugs.
Most of the select committee members, including some Tories, will endorse
the advisory council's position.

The committee is likely to back the trend towards greater spending on drug
treatment in the face of evidence that UKP 1 spent on treatment saves UKP 3
in terms of crime.

The MPs are expected to reject extreme demands for the legalisation of
heroin, but favour schemes in parts of Germany and the Netherlands that
allow registered long-term heroin users access to the drug, either in
special centres or in the community.