RECLASSIFY CANNABIS, SAYS OFFICIAL REPORT

A government-commissioned report has recommended that cannabis be
downgraded to a Class C drug.

Such a legal move could allow users to smoke it in public without fear of
arrest.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said current
classification of the drug was "disproportionate" to its harmfulness.

ACMD chairman Professor Sir Michael Rawlins said his council was not saying
cannabis was harmless.

"Cannabis is associated with some risks of health but the council concludes
that these are less than the risks posed by other Class B drugs such as
amphetamine," he said.

The prime minister's official spokesman said while Home Secretary David
Blunkett had made clear he was "minded" to re-classify cannabis, no
decision had yet been taken.

"There are no plans for de-criminalisation or legalisation," the spokesman
said.

The report follows last weekend's vote by the Liberal Democrats to support
the legalisation of cannabis.

Dramatic Vote

That vote was the first by a mainstream UK party and was accompanied by
another vote to end imprisonment for the possession of any illegal drug -
including heroin and cocaine.

Delegates also backed the downgrading of ecstasy from a Class A to a Class
B drug.

Home Secretary David Blunkett commissioned the ACMD last October to carry
out its study.

The ACMD monitors the state of drugs use and misuse in the UK and was set
up under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.

Drugs are classified as Class A, B or C according to harm they may cause.

'Not Mugging Old Ladies'

Cannabis is a Class B drug, the same category as other substances including
amphetamines and growth hormones.

Recent studies suggest that cannabis use has risen sharply since the early
seventies, especially among those in the 20 to 24 age group.

Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales, who last year called for
heroin to be prescribed free to Britain's 300,000 addicts, said on
Wednesday that there should be a major rethink on drug crime.

He said he saw no problem with drugs as long as addicts were "not mugging
old ladies."