Britain Announces Plan to Abolish Marijuana Possession Arrests

[Guest guest]

from

http://www.drcnet.org/wol/208.html#ukdecrim

.. Britain Announces Plan to Abolish Marijuana Possession Arrests

(courtesy NORML Foundation, http://www.norml.org)

Possession of marijuana will no longer be an arrestable offense, Britain's Home

Secretary Blunkett announced Tuesday, in a move marking the first major

relaxation of England's marijuana laws in 30 years. Under the new national

policy, marijuana will be reclassified as a " Class C " or " soft " drug, putting it

in the same category as anti-depressants and steroids.

" In spite of our focus on hard drugs, the majority of police time is currently

spent handling cannabis offenses, " Blunkett said, noting that nearly 7 out every

10 British drug arrests are pot-related. " It is time for an honest and common

sense approach focusing effectively on drugs that cause the most harm. Given

this background, and the very clear difference between cannabis and 'Class A'

drugs [such as heroin and cocaine], I want to... reclassify cannabis from 'Class

B' to 'Class C.' "

Although possession of Class C drugs technically carries a two-year maximum

prison term, only offenses punishable by at least five years imprisonment are

arrestable in England. Therefore, marijuana smokers will unlikely face any

serious legal consequences other than a verbal warning or a court summons if

they are caught will small amounts. " [Police] will still have plenty of powers

to stop people, but possession of cannabis won't be one of them, " a Home Office

spokesman told The Guardian newspaper.

NORML Executive Director Stroup praised Blunkett's decision, calling the

UK's impending policy de-facto decriminalization. " By eliminating the threat of

arrest and jail for responsible adult marijuana smokers, police and criminal

justice resources can be focused on more serious and violent crimes, " Stroup

said.

England's pot-law change will not be enacted legislatively, but instead by an

executive order, the BBC reported. The new law will likely take effect early

next year.

This week's announcement by the Home Office is the latest in a series of drug

policy reforms occurring throughout Europe. Earlier this year, governments in

Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal decriminalized the use and possession of

marijuana.

In contrast, the US FBI revealed Monday that a record 734,498 Americans were

arrested for marijuana violations last year.

[Guest guest]

> from

> http://www.drcnet.org/wol/208.html#ukdecrim

> . Britain Announces Plan to Abolish Marijuana Possession Arrests

> (courtesy NORML Foundation, http://www.norml.org)

>

> Possession of marijuana will no longer be an arrestable offense, Britain's

> Home Secretary Blunkett announced Tuesday, in a move marking the

> first major relaxation of England's marijuana laws in 30 years. Under

> the new national policy, marijuana will be reclassified as a " Class C "

> or " soft " drug, putting it in the same category as anti-depressants and

> steroids.

Hmmm, the US drug Czar isn't going to be happy. How is he going to do his

job trying to convince the US public that grass is evil when civilized

countries like Britain and Canada continue to decriminalize it, hehehehe

C

" I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much

liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. "

Jefferson, 1791

http://www.uidaho.edu/~bjcraw/