Against Advice, Brown Government Still Pushing For Marijuana Recrim

The UK's Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is still pushing for recriminalization of marijuana in spite of the recommendation of his own drug advisory council. The government's move may on the other hand not be fully implemented by the nation's police as the UK's Association of Chief Police Officers has declared its support for the current "confiscate and warn" approach.

First, the Evening Standard on April 28, 2008 ("Brown Set to Regrade Cannabis As Class B Despite Experts' Advice") reported that "Gordon Brown has decided to throw out the recommendation by a high-powered group of government advisers who say it should stay a "soft" drug. The Prime Minister will instead take a hard line, sending a message that drugs are dangerous to young people's health and heavily linked to serious crime. His stance was confirmed on the day that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was handing in an official report that is understood to recommend that cannabis should remain in the lowest category of illegal drugs, Class C. The advisory council is the most senior authority on drugs policy and was asked by Mr Brown to review the law amid concerns over stronger forms of cannabis such as skunk that are linked to mental illness in long-term abusers."

According to the Standard, "With 23 experts in drugs and their treatment, the advisory council has never before been ignored by the Government."

The Standard noted that "At present, most adults found carrying cannabis are unlikely even to be arrested. Young people are most likely to be arrested and reprimanded. That may now change, however. As a Class B rather than a Class C drug, the maximum penalty for possessing cannabis will rise from two to five years. In both cases the maximum penalty for supply is 14 years. Cannabis was downgraded from a Class B drug to Class C in January 2004, with the aim of freeing police time to tackle harder drugs. The move came after former home secretary David Blunkett became convinced that it was far less of a threat than heroin and crack cocaine."

The Guardian reported on May 1, 2008 ("Police Reject Tougher Action on Cannabis") that "Police will not adopt a tougher approach to cases of simple possession of cannabis when ministers upgrade the legal status of the drug to class B, the Guardian can disclose. The Association of Chief Police Officers ( Acpo ) confirmed last night that the current policy of "confiscate and warn" would continue, despite Gordon Brown's determination to reclassify the drug in an attempt to "send a tough message" to young people about its use. Chief constables are debating whether or not fixed penalty fines should be available alongside cannabis warnings. But the basic approach of saving police time by not making an arrest and taking the offender to the police station to be charged, introduced four years ago, will remain."

According to the Guardian, "Campaigners for drug law reform last night questioned the relevance of the drug classification system, which dates back to 1971, and its ability to send a message. Roger Howard, chief executive of the UK Drug Policy Commission, and a former government drugs adviser, said: 'There will be no new powers or resources for policing if cannabis is made class B, and cannabis warnings can still be issued instead of arrest.' He said this underlined the muddle at the heart of government over the purpose of a drug classification system which was unlikely ever to be able to 'send a message to young people'. Since cannabis had moved from class B to class C, the number of schoolchildren who think it is fine to try cannabis had halved, he said."

The Guardian noted that "It is expected that Acpo guidance to police officers will use different language from existing guidelines to stress the discretion that is available to constables to take more robust action in cases involving repeat offenders or aggravating factors such as disorder or evidence of organised crime. An Acpo spokesman last night: "The key will be the discretion for officers to strike the right balance. We do not want to criminalise young people who are experimenting." However, he stressed that cases involving "aggravating factors" were more likely to see an arrest and prosecution."