POLICE CHIEF DEFENDS CANNABIS CAUTIONS

The Police Commander whose use of the internet to discuss his views on
anarchy led to a dressing-down from his superiors issued a strident defence
yesterday of his decision to relax cannabis laws.

Brian Paddick, who is in charge of policing in Lambeth, south London, said
the pilot scheme, in which users in the borough were cautioned, had
increased the number of arrests of dealers in hard drugs.

The controversial "softly, softly" approach was aimed at freeing police
resources by merely reprimanding those in possession of small amounts of
cannabis rather than arresting them. Mr Paddick, who was lampooned for his
use of an internet chatroom to talk to Londoners, said his officers had
been able to concentrate on disrupting the heroin and crack cocaine trade
as a result.

He told Today on BBC Radio 4: "There has been an increase in the arrest of
people for dealing in drugs as a consequence and I am very pleased with the
results.

"It is not about taking any moral stance on cannabis. It is about
concentrating scarce police resources on those drugs that cause most harm."

The commander said he believed the six-month trial should be extended. The
Government is considering proposals to downgrade cannabis to a Class C
drug, removing police powers of arrest.

The success of the scheme will be seen as a personal triumph for Mr Paddick
after he spearheaded the trial. But his "innovative" methods have not
always found favour with his bosses. The Commander was censured earlier
this week at a meeting with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John
Stevens, for saying on the chatroom he found the concept of anarchism
"appealing".