BRITISH COPS ISSUE MARIJUANA REPORT

LONDON - A pilot program relaxing curbs on marijuana in a London
district has attracted users to the area and increased the use of hard
drugs, a senior policeman said Tuesday.

Under the program, which began in July, people in Lambeth in south
London found with small amounts of marijuana are not arrested, but
receive a warning.

Police say the policy saves hours of paperwork, freeing up time to
fight hard drugs and violent crime in the inner-city
neighborhood.

But Fred Broughton, chairman of the Police Federation, said Tuesday
that the pilot scheme didn't appear to be reducing the use of drugs in
the area as had been hoped. ``The reverse seems to be true,'' he said.

Broughton, whose organization represents 126,000 police officers, said
the program apparently gave some residents, including children, the
impression that the authorities condone the use of marijuana, called
cannabis in Britain.

``The change in procedures is encouraging more people to come to that
area and more people are involving themselves in cannabis,'' Broughton
told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

He also said that crack abusers and crack dealers are becoming more
visible and more active.

The six-month program was due to end Dec. 31, but police continued it
while they await two reports assessing its success. Scotland Yard says
they will then decide whether to scrap the policy or extend it across
the city.

Scotland Yard has said the program has saved 2,000 hours of police
time and that 400 drug users had escaped prosecution.

In October, Home Secretary David Blunkett announced plans to
reclassify marijuana as a ``Class C'' drug - putting it in the same
category as anabolic steroids.

It would still be illegal to possess or smoke the drug, but violators
would receive a warning or a court summons rather than face arrest.

The proposals must be approved by Parliament. A final decision is
expected in the spring.