Cranky
05-09-2008, 06:49 AM
UK: Police will not enforce Brown's new 'tougher' cannabis policy
James Slack
Daily Mail
Thursday 01 May 2008
Labour's promise to toughen the law on cannabis was descending into a ' shambles' last night after police vowed to continue letting offenders off with a slap on the wrist.
Next week Gordon Brown will announce that the disastrous downgrading of the drug is to be reversed, returning it to the more serious Class B.
Campaigners had hoped this would bring back the presumption that users would be arrested and given a criminal record.
But yesterday the Association of Chief Police Officers said police want to retain 'cannabis warnings' for people found in possession of the drug.
Opponents said this would mean that cannabis was being regraded in name only, to score political points for the Prime Minister.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "This will render Gordon Brown's much-spun U-turn useless and make a mockery of the classification system.
"What kind of message does it send to young people about the danger of this drug that you will still get away with a warning?
"Clearly the Prime Minister hasn't got a grip on this policy."
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The Government's drugs policy is now in a shambles."
The controversial downgrading of the drug from Class B to C in January 2004 meant users no longer faced the presumption of arrest. Instead, they were allowed to escape with a formal warning.
It was widely assumed that this would be swept away when the reclassification is confirmed, with most users once again being taken to a police station to answer charges.
But ACPO, which represents senior officers across the country, said it wants to retain the discretion to let users off with a simple warning. A spokesman said: "We stand by our recommendation that cannabis should be restored to Class B.
"Should the decision be taken to reclassify cannabis to Class B, we would expect to see increased robust enforcement activity, particularly in cases involving repeat offenders or where there are aggravating circumstances.
"However, as Simon Byrne, ACPO lead on policing cannabis and Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, made clear in evidence to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on February 5, 2008, we would seek to retain flexibility in dealing with instances of simple possession on the street, including the discretion to issue warnings."
Chief officers argued "the key will be the discretion for officers to strike the right balance. We do not want to criminalise young people who are experimenting".
Mary Brett, spokesman for Europe Against Drugs, responded: "It does annoy me when they say that they don't want to criminalise young people who are experimenting.
"Teenagers know the law, they are criminalising themselves."
Mr Brown asked the Government's independent panel of experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to review the classification of cannabis after taking power last July.
The ACMD has concluded that there should be no change from the current Class C status, but Mr Brown will overrule the council.
Super-strong 'skunk', the new threat
Gordon Brown was driven to reclassify cannabis by alarm at the social harm being caused by the new super-strong 'skunk' strain of the drug.
It is typically two to three times more powerful than other forms of cannabis, and now accounts for 75 per cent of cannabis seized.
Medical experts say it can cause mental illness, and it has been implicated in a number of killings by addicts.
Regular skunk smoker Thomas Palmer, 19, slit the throat of Steven Bayliss, 16, and stabbed his close friend, Nuttawut Nadauld, 14, to death in Berkshire in September 2005.
Ezekiel Maxwell, who was crazed by highstrength skunk, butchered a grandmother last September after "voices in his head" told him to stab a woman.
The 17-year-old prowled the streets with a kitchen knife until he came across Carmelita Tulloch as she walked to her job at a photocopying firm in South London. He stabbed her seven times.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister said: "I don't think that the previous studies took into account that so much of the cannabis on the streets is now of a lethal quality and we really have got to send out a message to young people that this is not acceptable."
Drug offences have leapt by more than 50 per cent since 2004, when cannabis was downgraded. The number seeking treatment for mental illness has increased since 2004, standing at 25,944 last year, including 9,259 under-18s.
James Slack
Daily Mail
Thursday 01 May 2008
Labour's promise to toughen the law on cannabis was descending into a ' shambles' last night after police vowed to continue letting offenders off with a slap on the wrist.
Next week Gordon Brown will announce that the disastrous downgrading of the drug is to be reversed, returning it to the more serious Class B.
Campaigners had hoped this would bring back the presumption that users would be arrested and given a criminal record.
But yesterday the Association of Chief Police Officers said police want to retain 'cannabis warnings' for people found in possession of the drug.
Opponents said this would mean that cannabis was being regraded in name only, to score political points for the Prime Minister.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "This will render Gordon Brown's much-spun U-turn useless and make a mockery of the classification system.
"What kind of message does it send to young people about the danger of this drug that you will still get away with a warning?
"Clearly the Prime Minister hasn't got a grip on this policy."
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The Government's drugs policy is now in a shambles."
The controversial downgrading of the drug from Class B to C in January 2004 meant users no longer faced the presumption of arrest. Instead, they were allowed to escape with a formal warning.
It was widely assumed that this would be swept away when the reclassification is confirmed, with most users once again being taken to a police station to answer charges.
But ACPO, which represents senior officers across the country, said it wants to retain the discretion to let users off with a simple warning. A spokesman said: "We stand by our recommendation that cannabis should be restored to Class B.
"Should the decision be taken to reclassify cannabis to Class B, we would expect to see increased robust enforcement activity, particularly in cases involving repeat offenders or where there are aggravating circumstances.
"However, as Simon Byrne, ACPO lead on policing cannabis and Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, made clear in evidence to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on February 5, 2008, we would seek to retain flexibility in dealing with instances of simple possession on the street, including the discretion to issue warnings."
Chief officers argued "the key will be the discretion for officers to strike the right balance. We do not want to criminalise young people who are experimenting".
Mary Brett, spokesman for Europe Against Drugs, responded: "It does annoy me when they say that they don't want to criminalise young people who are experimenting.
"Teenagers know the law, they are criminalising themselves."
Mr Brown asked the Government's independent panel of experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to review the classification of cannabis after taking power last July.
The ACMD has concluded that there should be no change from the current Class C status, but Mr Brown will overrule the council.
Super-strong 'skunk', the new threat
Gordon Brown was driven to reclassify cannabis by alarm at the social harm being caused by the new super-strong 'skunk' strain of the drug.
It is typically two to three times more powerful than other forms of cannabis, and now accounts for 75 per cent of cannabis seized.
Medical experts say it can cause mental illness, and it has been implicated in a number of killings by addicts.
Regular skunk smoker Thomas Palmer, 19, slit the throat of Steven Bayliss, 16, and stabbed his close friend, Nuttawut Nadauld, 14, to death in Berkshire in September 2005.
Ezekiel Maxwell, who was crazed by highstrength skunk, butchered a grandmother last September after "voices in his head" told him to stab a woman.
The 17-year-old prowled the streets with a kitchen knife until he came across Carmelita Tulloch as she walked to her job at a photocopying firm in South London. He stabbed her seven times.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister said: "I don't think that the previous studies took into account that so much of the cannabis on the streets is now of a lethal quality and we really have got to send out a message to young people that this is not acceptable."
Drug offences have leapt by more than 50 per cent since 2004, when cannabis was downgraded. The number seeking treatment for mental illness has increased since 2004, standing at 25,944 last year, including 9,259 under-18s.