DRUG USERS SHOULD BE FINED ON THE SPOT, SAY POLICE

SCOTLAND YARD is proposing a middle way option of on-the-spot fines for
cannabis possession amid growing unease within the police over the
controversial "softly-softly" approach pioneered in Brixton.

A senior commander has been ordered to report on the feasibility of using
fixed penalty notices in London as an alternative to adopting the Brixton
scheme.

The Metropolitan Police and David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, are
studying the results of the experiment in Lambeth, South London, which
includes Brixton. Drug users caught on the streets are let off with a
reprimand after the cannabis has been seized.

The aim of the scheme is to cut bureaucracy and free officers to get back
on the streets to tackle dealers in hard drugs. However, police believe
on-the-spot fines would meet the concerns of many officers who want a
tougher line on people found with cannabis.

One senior Yard source said yesterday: "People still ought to account for
breaking the law. Either it is a criminal offence or not. I cannot see it
can be right for someone caught doing 33mph in a 30mph limit getting fined
and yet you can go down the town centre smoking cannabis in front of
children and just be told 'please don't do it'."

Any proposal from the Metropolitan Police for the current fixed penalty
fine scheme to be extended to cannabis possession would need to convince Mr
Blunkett that it would save police time.

Under the scheme police would hand out a fixed penalty ticket which the
offender would have to pay within 28 days or face prosecution.

Mr Blunkett would need to change the drugs law to allow an on-the-spot fine
for cannabis possession to be introduced in London or nationally. Early
legislation is unlikely, particularly after this week when the Home Office
was forced to drop key Bills because of lack of parliamentary time. The
Home Secretary is currently awaiting reports on drugs policy before
deciding whether to reclassify cannabis from a Class B to Class C drug.

The fixed penalty idea would have the support of the team led by
Viscountess Runciman of Doxford which in 2000 published the most
comprehensive review of the 30-year-old drugs laws.

Last night Kevin Morris, president of the Superintendents' Association,
welcomed the idea and said: "It seems to go part way between what they are
doing in Lambeth and what the rest of us are doing."

Senior officers at the Yard are grappling with the future of the scheme
launched by Commander Brian Paddick in Lambeth. It will continue but a
limit on the number of times someone can be warned for cannabis possession
before police take action will be set.

However, a decision has been taken not to extend the scheme across the rest
of London because officers are unsure about its effects. Junior officers
fear it has encouraged greater drug use in Lambeth. Many commanders in
other areas of the capital have already told Scotland Yard they are
unwilling to adopt the scheme.

According to the report prepared for Scotland Yard, the pilot scheme saved
1,340 police man-hours and 1,150 civilian staff man-hours. Officers also
warned 450 drug users between July and December, a 35 per cent rise on
arrests and cautions in the same period the previous year.