BLUNKETT OVERHAUL OF DRUG LAWS WILL END PROSECUTION FOR CANNABIS USERS

Possession of cannabis should no longer be an arrestable offence, the Home
Secretary, David Blunkett, said as he announced the biggest reform of
British drugs policy in modern times.

The Home Secretary said he wanted to reclassify the drug from Class B to
Class C, putting it in the same category as anti-depressants and steroids.

He was at pains to point out that possession of cannabis would remain
illegal and the proposal was not tantamount to decriminalisation. But
cannabis campaigners said, in practice, users of the drug would no longer
face prosecution.

Mr Blunkett said he would recommend the legal use of cannabis-based drugs
for medicinal reasons, subject to the outcome of clinical trials to be
completed in 2003.

He also announced plans to make heroin more widely available on
prescription where doctors considered it to be appropriate.

The Home Secretary said the reclassification of cannabis was necessary if
the Government's drug policy was to be taken seriously by young people.

"We will only be successful at delivering this message if our policy is
balanced and credible," he said. "A quarter of a million lives are being
destroyed by hard drugs and the cost to the criminal justice system alone
amounts to UKP 1.2bn.

"In spite of our focus on hard drugs, most police time is spent on handling
cannabis offences. It is time for a common sense approach, focusing on
drugs that cause most harm."

Mike Goodman, director of the national drug and alcohol advice charity
Release, described the proposal as a "Berlin Wall-type development. The
announcement is hugely significant," he said.

The Labour MP Paul Flynn, who has campaigned for drugs reform, said the
move was a "wonderful, sensible first step".

But the former Tory minister Peter Lilley said the Government had "missed
the main point" and should have licensed cannabis outlets to "break the
link" with criminal suppliers.