CANNABIS LAWS SET TO BE EASED

Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced he wants the UK's laws covering
cannabis to be eased so possession will no longer be an arrestable offence
The drug would remain illegal under Mr Blunkett's proposals but be
re-classified from a class 'B' to a class 'C' drug.

The aim is to free police to concentrate on harder drugs and improve
current legislation so it will "make more sense" to people on the street,
he said. In a parallel move, licensing of cannabis derivatives for medical
use - such as the relief of multiple sclerosis symptoms - will be given
government backing if current trials prove successful. Cannabis possession
and supply would remain a criminal offence, attracting maximum sentences of
five years for supply and two years for possession.

But rather than arresting people caught with cannabis, police will be more
likely to issue a warning, a caution or a court summons. Police resources
Mr Blunkett announced the shift while giving evidence to the House of
Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. He told MPs: "To have credible
policy in treatment and harm minimisation and above all consistency in law
enforcement and policing, we believe it is right to look at the
re-categorisation of cannabis. "I shall therefore be putting to the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs a proposal that we should
re-categorise cannabis to 'C' rather than 'B', thereby allowing police to
concentrate their resources on class 'A' drugs - crack-cocaine and heroin
in particular - and to ensure that whilst they are able to deal with those
pushing and dealing in drugs in exactly the same way as they can at the
moment, it will both lighten their load and make more sense on the streets
than it does at the moment."

Mr Blunkett said the re-categorisation was supported by the Metropolitan
Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, and "many of those engaged in law
enforcement across the country". Re-categorisation of cannabis was one of
the recommendations in a Police Foundation report by Lady Runciman last
year, roundly rejected by the government at the time. Mr Blunkett said he
would not be following her other calls to downgrade LSD and ecstasy as
well. And he added that he was not in favour of either de-criminalising or
legalising cannabis, particularly as debate on its status as a "gateway" to
harder drugs was so far inconclusive. Move welcomed Lady Runciman called
the home secretary's move "very sensible and welcome". "It will make the
law much more credible with a much more accurate hierarchy of drugs," she
said. Mr Blunkett could look forward to almost certain approval for the
change from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Lady Runciman
added. Conservative former home secretary Ann Widdecombe said she was
concerned it could signal a more tolerant attitude official towards
cannabis and become a "dealer's charter". Former health minister Jon Owen
Jones, whose bill to legalise cannabis comes before the House of Commons on
Friday, said: "This is the first step towards a sensible drug policy as
well as an acknowledgement that the present policies are not working."
'Attitudes will change' Mike Goodman, director of national drug and alcohol
advice charity Release, called it "a Berlin Wall-type development" likely
to herald many changes in society's attitude to drugs. The Medical
Marijuana Co-operative, a group campaigning for cannabis to be prescribed
for medical conditions, called Mr Blunkett's announcement
"decriminalisation through the back door". Liberal Democrat home affairs
spokesman Simon Hughes said: "The announcement on cannabis is welcome but
it is extraordinary that it has taken so long." The Conservatives,
undergoing a detailed policy review, said they had "noted" Mr Blunkett's
announcement.