Pubdate: Sun, 13 Jan 2002
Source: Independent on Sunday (UK)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/208
Author: Robert Mendick

POLICE ENFORCE 'CHAOTIC' DRUG LAWS ON WHIM

The Government's drug advisers last night called on the Home Office to 
modernise drugs laws ahead of a new report highlighting the haphazard way 
they are applied.

The call comes amid increasing evidence that policing of Britain's drug 
laws is in disarray - based more upon the whims of local police chiefs than 
the statute book.

New research published in the spring by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the 
UK's largest social research charity, will highlight the hit-or-miss 
approach to drug enforcement taken by the police.

According to latest figures, 60 per cent of drug offenders in Warwickshire 
escape with a caution, while only 18 per cent of those living in Durham 
will get the same lenient treatment.

The variations up and down the country and even within forces are huge. In 
some parts of London cannabis use is pursued vigorously, while in Lambeth, 
south London, offenders are not even cautioned. Cannabis users caught on 
Brixton's streets now receive no more than a formal warning, its liberal 
police chief Commander Brian Paddick anxious not to waste police hours on 
trivial drugs offences.

The picture has been muddied further by a series of submissions to the Home 
Affairs Select Committee which have revealed a huge gulf in opinion between 
police officers on the ground and their superiors. The Police Federation, 
which represents rank and file officers, said "the siren calls for 
decriminalisation and legalisation are not cries for reality, they are the 
voice of surrender and despair". Meanwhile, Richard Brunstrom, chief 
constable of North Wales Police, last month suggested the only way to win 
the war on all drugs might be to legalise them, comparing Britain's policy 
outlawing the sale and possession of illegal drugs to that of alcohol 
prohibition in 1920s America.

The findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report will add further fuel 
to the belief that policing of Britain's drug laws is in disarray. Last 
night, DrugScope, the charity which advises the Government on drugs policy, 
called on the Home Office to "modernise" existing laws and iron out 
regional variations in policing.

Roger Howard, DrugScope's chief executive, said: "Drugs is an emotive and 
complex issue, for which there are no simple solutions, so it is perhaps 
not surprising that we see a wide range of opinion on drugs policy across 
different policing constituencies. However, what is important is that drug 
laws are applied consistently across the country and the current variations 
that occur are unacceptable.

"We need the Government to continue its efforts to modernise the drug laws 
and to give leadership to ensure that people get fair and equal treatment 
wherever they happen to be. It must not be left to the police to decide how 
drug laws should be interpreted."

The new findings are still being evaluated by a team at the Criminal Policy 
Research Unit at South Bank University, whose director Professor Mike Hough 
said preliminary findings show regional differences in the policing of 
cannabis possession and dealing. "We have looked at cannabis possession 
offences and how they are dealt with," said Prof Hough, "There quite 
obviously are differences between police forces and the treatment meted out 
to users."

Franklin Sinclair, senior partner at Tuckers, one of Britain's largest 
criminal law firms, said: "Police forces need a policy that is consistent 
throughout the whole country. For simple cannabis possession, all offenders 
should get a caution and no more."

Eddie Ellison, a former head of the Metropolitan Police drugs squad, is in 
favour of the legalisation and quality control of drugs - in order to take 
the supply and profits away from criminals - and of providing treatment for 
users.

Forces were entitled to operate their own policies within the framework of 
the existing laws, he said. But he wondered whether a variety of approaches 
might be in breach of the Human Rights Act which entitles everyone to be 
treated equally under the law. Article 14 prohibits discrimination on 
grounds of "national or social origin".

Mr Ellison said police had a history of leading social change ahead of 
legal changes. "The police service has always responded to changes in 
public opinion faster than legislation," he said.
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