Pubdate: Mon, 5 May 2008
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Section: Lead Editorial
Copyright: 2008 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

WARPED PERCEPTIONS

Drugs may open the doors of perception, but drugs policy seems bent 
on weaving perceptions out of thin air. Last week, headlines 
proclaimed a new crackdown on cannabis. Based on unattributable 
briefings, which bypassed the bar on official announcements ahead of 
the May Day elections, the stories said the drug would be shifted 
back from class C into class B. That may create the hallucination of 
action, but it will achieve nothing more substantial.

The stories gained credence when the prime minister publicly 
described new strains of cannabis as "lethal", as if they could 
trigger a fatal overdose. That is as fanciful as the idea that 
sending a moral message will do any good. True, cannabis has got 
somewhat stronger and - for a minority of users - there is evidence 
of a link with disabling psychosis. But Whitehall's own panel of 
experts has concluded that increased marijuana use has not been 
matched by a corresponding rise in mental illness. As a result it is 
reported to have rejected reclassification.

Even if the science were different, changing the law would be a 
mistake - for it will not cut cannabis use. From the 1970s until 2004 
harsh dope laws sat on the statute book as a symbol of political 
resolve, yet with every year that passed more people smoked the drug. 
A new crackdown now will be even more of a sham, as the current 
policy shows some signs of working. After cannabis was downgraded 
four years ago it became more straightforward for police to 
confiscate and caution. Figures last month showed a big rise in the 
warnings being handed out - around 20,000 extra cannabis smokers 
annually are being dealt with by the police. For the first time since 
records began, cannabis is falling out of fashion: the British Crime 
Survey shows that the proportion of young people trying the drug has 
fallen by four percentage points since 2003. Whether or not that is 
connected to the new laws, going back to the approach followed 
through the decades when use was relentlessly rising would be perverse.

Which is why it is not going to happen. For dubious reasons, the 
police chiefs are backing reclassification. But they said last week 
that they would not revert to the days when cannabis possession gave 
rise to automatic arrest, something that wasted so much time that 
officers often turned a blind eye. If the policy on arrest is not 
changing, the only effect of reclassification will be to threaten 
cannabis smokers with five-year prison terms. As in the past, that 
threat will be no deterrent as users know it will be imposed only 
rarely. But a small minority, who for whatever reason the authorities 
turn against, will find themselves thrown into jail. For them, a 
policy based on appearances rather than fact will come at a very real price. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake