19/08/2007 00:00:00
UK: MP's Make Hash of War on Drugs
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Within days of becoming Prime Minister in June Gordon Brown announced a
three-month review into the classification of cannabis.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith certainly didn't let the grass grow under
her feet and has already decided to get tough on users.
Miss Smith, who, like eight Cabinet colleagues, smoked a few joints at
university, wants to scrap cautions for possession for personal use.
That means anyone found with even the smallest quantity of marijuana
could get a criminal record.
Hard-pressed police will spend hours filling in forms and these
occasional users will clog up overstretched courts. Is that really the
answer to this complex, controversial issue?
Despite being downgraded from class B to C in 2004, cannabis possession
remains an arrestable offence punishable by up to two years in prison.
But users have been let off with warnings unless there are aggravating
factors, such as possession near a school or smoking it in public.
This sensible approach has saved an average 180,000 police hours a year
and stopped your otherwise-good kids getting lumbered with criminal
convictions for inevitably experimenting with their mates.
We would never condone drug use and there IS worrying evidence that
cannabis is getting stronger and can trigger psychosis and schizophrenia
in the vulnerable. But many mental health experts agree that
reclassifying the drug would be a waste of resources.
The Government should concentrate on a massive, national information
campaign to educate the public about the health dangers of cannabis.
Not making a hash of a policy that keeps our courts free for dealers and
real crooks.
http://www.people.co.uk/news/voiceofthepeople/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12802
Author:
The Sunday People via UKCIA
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