Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 Source: Irish Independent (Ireland) Copyright: Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd Contact: http://www.independent.ie/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/213 Author: Helen Bruce NO LAXITY HERE ON CANNABIS, VOWS MINISTER IRELAND will not follow the UK's example and make the possession of cannabis a non-arrestable offence, the Minister for the National Drugs Strategy, Noel Ahern, pledged last night, writes Helen Bruce. The UK has proposed re-classifying cannabis from Class B to Class C, allowing greater discretion for police dealing with cannabis users. However, the Minister said under Irish law, gardai had such discretionary powers. He said it would be "extremely imprudent" to consider legalising cannabis, due to its adverse health effects. He said cannabis smoke had three times more cancer-causing chemicals than the highest tar tobacco. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake