Pubdate: Sun, 15 Jul 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Laurel Rosen, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

SOUTH LONDON POT SMOKERS ARE HIT WITH WARNINGS, NOT WARRANTS

Britain: Experiment With Decriminalization, Designed So That Police Can 
Focus On Hard Drugs And Violent Crimes, Raises Some Hackles.

Marijuana is illegal here, but police in south London have decided to stop 
wasting time on pot smokers and focus their resources on combating hard 
drugs and violent crimes.

In a six-month trial that began recently, police in the London borough of 
Lambeth are issuing warnings to people caught with small amounts of 
cannabis. They're confiscating the drug, but they're not prosecuting.

The new policy, initiated by the Lambeth Division but approved by the 
central Metropolitan Police office, amounts to a de facto decriminalization 
of marijuana in one part of the capital and has sparked a national debate 
about Britain's drug laws.

Against warnings that south London could become "the next Amsterdam," some 
of the proponents of legalization have come from unlikely places. Peter 
Lilley, a former deputy leader of the Conservative Party, urged that the 
current drug laws be scrapped because they aren't working.

"When laws on the statute book are not enforced on the street, that brings 
the law, the police and Parliament into disrepute. We need to bring the two 
into line," Lilley wrote in the Daily Telegraph. "The reason that the law 
on cannabis is unenforceable is that it is indefensible."

Home Secretary David Blunkett of the Labor Party responded that the 
government should undertake "an adult, intelligent debate. Let's think, 
let's consider, let's not be pushed by articles in newspapers or hysteria."

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, marijuana possession carries a maximum 
sentence of five years in jail and/or a $7,000 fine. Police in Lambeth, one 
of 32 boroughs in sprawling London, say that in practice, few people caught 
with pot for personal use have ever faced the maximum punishment. After 
their arrest and booking--which could take two officers off the street for 
as long as five hours--most offenders end up with a caution or a fine of 
less than $70.

Now, instead of going through the costly and time-consuming process of 
booking each marijuana offender, police are issuing warnings on the spot. 
The new procedure takes just 10 minutes and keeps police on the beat.

"This is not a message that you can smoke cannabis in Lambeth," said Paul 
Halford, a spokesman for the Lambeth Division. "In fact, we're hoping this 
will lead to greater police presence on the streets."

Police will continue to pursue marijuana dealers, along with heroin and 
crack cocaine traffickers, who prey on the low-income area.

Residents have mixed reactions to the new policy. Jennifer Douglas, who 
works with a Lambeth community group that monitors police issues, called 
the move an "appropriate prioritization of police resources. Cannabis has 
very little negative impact on our community. Hard drugs and violence have 
a much bigger influence."

At an outdoor market in Lambeth's Brixton neighborhood, where Caribbean 
music blares from a butcher's stand and locals buy bread from a Jamaican 
bakery, many vendors and shoppers were unaware of the new policy. Others 
were disapproving.

"One thing leads to another. If you legalize cannabis, what's next?" said a 
28-year-old lawyer hurriedly shopping for produce with her toddler son.

Lambeth resident Tom Utley, a columnist for the Daily Telegraph, said he 
supports legalization but not the local experiment in decriminalization.

"It is not for a local police chief to say that the law is silly. It is his 
job to enforce it, however silly it may seem," Utley wrote last week. "Nor 
is it any good to say that the law is so widely disregarded as to be not 
worth the trouble of trying to enforce it. The laws against burglary and 
mugging are widely disregarded too."

Furthermore, he argued, it isn't right to enforce a law differently in 
different neighborhoods.

At the CD Link music shop in Brixton, employee Simon Williams, 25, said 
he's happy that police want to crack down on drug dealers who peddle their 
wares near his store and frighten customers away. But he said he has yet to 
see any impact from the new policy.

"The dealers are right here. The buyers are right here," he said, waving at 
the street in front of his shop. "But the police ain't doing nothing."

Metropolitan Police officials said it's too soon to predict whether the 
program will succeed and be expanded to other boroughs of London. 
Spokeswoman Lisa Carroll said the program will be evaluated after six 
months. "If we decide to go further with this, we'll probably need a change 
in legislation first," she said.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper published a poll showing that 37% of 
the British population supports legalizing cannabis. That's an increase 
from the last survey, in 1996, when 26% wanted to legalize the drug.

The Conservatives' Lilley advocates that marijuana be taxed and sold only 
in specially licensed stores to people over 18. He wrote in the Telegraph 
that legalizing cannabis would take the market away from criminal gangs and 
focus more law enforcement resources on hard drugs and associated crime.

Other leading Conservatives challenged his position. Ann Widdecombe, the 
shadow home secretary, said the official position of the party is that 
there is insufficient evidence to support legalizing or decriminalizing 
marijuana.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said the government has no 
intention of legalizing marijuana. As for de facto decriminalization, he 
was less adamant. The government has always prioritized tackling hard drugs 
over soft, he said, so the new policy in Lambeth "fits in with the 
government's strategy."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager