Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jul 2002
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2002 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Author: T.R. Reid, Washington Post

BRITAIN RELAXES CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

LONDON - Signing on to the tolerant approach toward drug use that is 
spreading rapidly in Europe, the British government Wednesday said it will 
effectively decriminalize the possession and use of marijuana.

David Blunkett, the home secretary (roughly equivalent to the attorney 
general in the United States), told Parliament that police will no longer 
arrest people smoking "cannabis," as the drug is known here. Possession of 
a supply of the drug for personal use will also be ignored. Cannabis will 
still be considered an illegal drug, however, and selling it will remain an 
arrestable offense.

Blunkett and his boss, Prime Minister Tony Blair, both defended the policy 
change Wednesday, arguing that it will give police more time and resources 
to go after violent crime and the use of hard drugs such as heroin.

"Making a clearer differentiation between drugs that kill and drugs that do 
not would be scientifically appropriate and educationally valuable," 
Blunkett said. He promised an increase in drug education programs.

"The message is clear -- drugs are dangerous," he said. "We will educate, 
persuade, and, where necessary, direct young people away from their use."

The new national policy stems from a successful experiment begun last year 
in Brixton, a South London neighborhood. The local police chief declared 
that arresting for marijuana was a "waste of time," and ordered his police 
to bypass pot smokers and focus on hard drugs.

Today, young people routinely light up a "spliff" -- that's the British 
term for "joint" -- on the sidewalk in front of Brixton's police station. 
You can buy a spliff just outside Brixton's subway station for less than $5.

In an assessment this spring, the national Association of Chief Police 
Officers praised the Brixton experiment and urged that the same approach be 
taken nationwide. Blunkett said Wednesday he will institute that change as 
of next summer.

Blunkett emphasized that cannabis will still remain technically illegal, 
and he said he will create a new crime of "aggravated possession" so that 
police can move against repeat offenders.

By telling its police to look the other way when they come upon a marijuana 
user, Britain has joined most other European nations. The Netherlands, 
Germany, Switzerland and Belgium are among the nations that have 
decriminalized marijuana and so-called "party drugs" such as ecstasy. 
However, a political coalition in the Netherlands, due to come to office 
later this month, Wednesday announced plans to tighten some of that 
country's drug laws.

In fact, the newest trend in western Europe is to decriminalize all drugs, 
including heroin and cocaine, treating drug use as a health problem rather 
than a crime. Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy have taken this 
approach in varying degrees.

"The general trend across Europe," said Georges Estievenart, director of 
the European Union's Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, "is an 
approach that focuses on the traffickers and does not pursue the drug user 
as a criminal. The premise is that it is not in the interest of society to 
put these people in jail, where they don't get treatment but do get fairly 
easy access to all kinds of drugs."

In the United States, laws differ among individual states. But eight states 
have taken some kind of step toward permitting marijuana for medicinal use: 
California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Colorado.

The U.S. Supreme Court, however, ruled last year that there was no 
exception in federal law for people to use marijuana, so even those with 
tolerant state laws could face arrest if they do.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, marijuana is the most 
widely abused and readily available illicit drug in the United States, with 
an estimated 11.5 million current users. At least one-third of the U.S. 
population has used marijuana sometime in their lives.

Blunkett's new marijuana policy, known here as the "softly, softly" 
approach, will definitely be enacted into law because Blair's Labor Party 
has an unbeatable majority in the Parliament. But the chief opposition 
party, the Conservatives, Wednesday opposed the change.

Oliver Letwin, the Conservatives' "shadow" home secretary, told Parliament 
that the new policy is "muddled and dangerous." He said it was "impossible 
to reconcile" how it can be legal to own and use marijuana, but illegal to 
sell it.

In the Brixton experiment, on which Blunkett has based his new national 
policy, sale of marijuana is also ignored by police, at least in small 
categories. Some Brixton residents have complained that this has made the 
neighborhood a magnet for "spliff" buyers from all over Britain.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens