GOVERNMENT TAKES RELAXED VIEW OF CANNABIS

Laws On Pot Seen As 'More Harmful Than The Plant Itself'

The home secretary's announcement that he intends downgrading cannabis from
a class B to a class C illicit drug finally marks official recognition that
the drug is widely seen as no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol.

Thirty years after the punitive 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act set down a maximum
five year prison sentence and an unlimited fine for possession of cannabis,
about 49% of English teenagers say they have tried the drug - a level far
higher than in any other western European country.

As Tony Blair's "tune in, drop out" 1960s generation has moved into the
corridors of power, so the political rhetoric about drugs has grown more
liberal, culminating in last year's Police Foundation drugs inquiry that
found the law on cannabis creating more harm than the drug itself.

But while the politicians have sounded increasingly liberal, in practice
the police have been arresting more and more people for possession of the
drug. The number of those dealt with by the police for drugs offences
involving cannabis doubled from 40,194 in 1990 to 86,034 in 1997, after
Michael Howard announced he was tripling the maximum fines.

Since Labour came to power the numbers arrested for possession have stayed
near the same level, with more than 81,000 a year arrested for possession
in the 12 months to March 2001. More than 300,000 people are searched in
the street each year by police looking for drugs.

With regard to long term drugs policy, the decision by David Blunkett, the
home secretary, to provide official encouragement for the first time in 20
years to doctors to prescribe heroin, could prove equally important. The
idea is that if the most hardcore heroin addicts have access to heroin
legally, they will not go to dealers. Prescriptions from doctors could
bring many heroin addicts into touch with the treatment system, where they
could progress to methadone.

There are now more than 200,000 heroin users in Britain, compared with
little more than 1,000 registered users in the 1970s.

The Blunkett package is in sharp contrast to that of his predecessor: Jack
Straw dismissed last year's report of the Police Foundation inquiry. It
recommended downgrading cannabis from class B to class C, abolishing jail
for cannabis possession, and treating small personal supplies of cannabis
plants as simple possession.

After the report's publication, the Metropolitan police announced their
six-month experiment in Brixton, south London, whereby those found carrying
cannabis were no longer to be charged, allowing officers to concentrate on
the more dangerous drugs and the gun related violence.

In July, a Guardian/ICM poll found that 65% of the public agreed that
prosecution for cannabis should be the lowest priority for the police. The
former Tory cabinet minister, Peter Lilley, published a pamphlet saying the
drugs laws were "indefensible" and calling for cannabis to be sold through
licensed outlets.

The National Association of Probation Officers last week extended its long
term support for the decriminalisation of cannabis to all class A drugs,
arguing that it was now more important to eliminate the lucrative criminal
market in illicit drugs. There have even been attempts to start up Dutch
style cafes selling cannabis over the counter.

The official medical view of cannabis has also undergone a revolution.
Although no one believes cannabis is a harmless drug, as the Runciman
inquiry confirmed, it is now widely seen to be less dangerous than alcohol
or tobacco. Its supporters argue that its mildly sedative effect can lead
to relaxation, decreased blood pressure, increased appetite, and increased
sociability. Critics say the drug may impair short term memory and affect
body coordination. There are no records of a case involving a fatal
overdose of cannabis.

As the British Medical Association puts it: "The acute toxicity of
cannabinoids is extremely low no deaths have been directly attributed to
their recreational or therapeutic use." A recent Lancet article judged
cannabis less of a threat than alcohol or tobacco, although it said long
term use could cause lung cancer.

Official trials into the medicinal properties of cannabis have yet to be
concluded. Medical opinion no longer regards cannabis as a "gateway drug"
and a majority of users do not go on to take heroin.

With cannabis as a class C drug, users would face the same kind of
penalties as those illegally supplying prescription drugs. The maximum
penalty for possession of a class C drug is two years; for dealing it is
five years.

In practice, reclassification is likely to mean that prosecution for
possession of cannabis will become the exception rather than the rule.

Scale of penalties dex

Class A

Cocaine, crack, dipipanone, ecstasy, heroin, LSD, magic mushrooms,
methadone, morphine, opium

(Class B drugs prepared for injection are classified class A)

Maximum penalty Possession: 7 years plus fine Dealing: life plus fine

Class B

Amphetamine, barbiturates, cannabis, codeine, dihydrocodeine, methylamphetamine

Maximum penalty Possession: 5 years plus fine Dealing: 14 years plus fine

Class C

Anabolic steroids, valium, librium, buprenorphine, diethylpropion,
mazindol, and pemoline

Maximum penalty Possession: 2 years plus fine Dealing: 5 years plus fine