Pubdate: Tue, 02 Jul 2002
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Nick Hopkins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

LAMBETH CANNABIS PILOT: THE FACTS

. The cannabis pilot was launched on July 2 last year and was due to last 
six months. The Met now says it will continue until the home secretary has 
ruled on reclassification.

. In the first six months officers and civilian staff saved more than 2,500 
hours and led to a 19% increase in arrests of class A drug dealers. The 
number of arrests for dealing cannabis rose 11%.

. The Police Federation claimed the initiative had confused children and 
encouraged crack cocaine dealers. This view was supported by a Mori poll 
commissioned for the Police Foundation. Forty-one per cent of those asked 
said they knew nothing about it and out of the 56% who claimed they did, 
some believed that cannabis had been legalised or decriminalised.

. The police said the poll of 2,055 Lambeth residents showed 83% either 
supported the experiment outright or conditionally. But critics pointed to 
other statistics which indicated that while half of all white residents in 
Brixton supported the experiment, the majority of black and Asian residents 
opposed it.

. Schools that replied to a police questionnaire about the use of cannabis 
by pupils suggests that the experiment had had no adverse effect on 
behaviour. Data suggests that the idea of an influx of drug tourists into 
Lambeth is a myth.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager