Pubdate: Sun, 11 Oct 1998
Source: Telegraph, The (UK)
Contact:  David Bamber, Home Affairs Correspondent

MPS MOVE TO OUTLAW SALE OF CANNABIS SEEDS

THE possession of cannabis seed and the equipment necessary for the
cultivation of the drug are to be outlawed, under proposals favoured by
Home Office ministers.

The Government is looking "sympathetically" at a demand from Britain's
chief constables for an end to the legal traffic in cannabis seeds.
Ministers think banning the seeds and equipment would send out a strong
signal that they are prepared to be tough on drugs.

The move follows intense lobbying from detectives who think it is an
"absurd loophole" in the current law that anyone can legally buy cannabis
seeds which can then be cultivated.

Malcolm George, the secretary of the drugs sub-committee of the Association
of Chief Police Officers, said: "We would like some sort of offence brought
in to remove this anomaly. There's only one thing you can do with cannabis
seeds and that's grow cannabis plants." 
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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski