MAKING SENSE ON DRUGS

But Ecstasy Reform Remains Elusive

Three changes to the administration of our drugs laws are promised this
year. Together, they will help move Britain to a more rational approach.
For too long the country has suffered under the most stringent - but the
least effective - laws in Europe. Waging wars on drug users only produce
wars on our children, as increasing numbers of parents have become aware.
Up to half of all children have experimented with drugs before leaving school.

All three changes move our laws to a more sensible goal: harm reduction.
David Blunkett deserves credit for authorising the changes that are in the
pipeline: downgrading cannabis from a class B to a class C drug, thus
making it a non-arrestable offence; wider use of cannabis for medicinal
purposes, once current studies have been completed; and encouraging a
return to prescribing heroin, moving the addiction from criminal offence to
medical need.

There was even more encouraging news this week when the Metropolitan police
revealed that a pilot project in Brixton was proving successful. Under the
scheme, people caught with small amounts of cannabis are given an on the
spot warning, rather than prosecuted or given a formal caution. A warning
is a lesser penalty than a caution. It is recorded by the police but does
not have to be declared by someone applying for a job.

Arresting someone for possessing pot requires five hours of extra work and
can cost UKP 500 in court time. The pilot has saved 2,000 hours of police
time, allowing police officers to get back on the streets to pursue serious
offenders, such as crack cocaine dealers. The aim is to roll out the scheme
across London and hopefully beyond the capital, too. But some kinks still
need ironing out. Ironically, by formalising what was already happening on
an informal basis, bureaucracy has crept in. The Met concede there is still
too much paper work.

There is one further reform, which David Blunkett is still resisting:
downgrading ecstasy, as recommended by the recent Police Foundation
national inquiry. Mr Blunkett is probably under orders from Downing Street,
but the stance makes no sense. Ecstasy kills fewer people than aspirin. It
was given out to the armed services in the war to keep them awake - the
same reason why clubbers use it today. Here is a chance for the Commons
select committee to demonstrate their powers of persuasion. Their new
report must be unequivocal.