cannabisnews.com: Unease Among Regional Forces 





Unease Among Regional Forces 
Posted by FoM on October 25, 2001 at 12:56:00 PT
By Nick Hopkins, Crime Correspondent
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Police unease at David Blunkett's move to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a class C drug began to simmer yesterday, as senior officers assessed the impact on anti-drugs initiatives and stop and search procedures. While the biggest force, the Metropolitan police, welcomed Mr Blunkett's announcement on Tuesday, some smaller constabularies in England and Wales were markedly cooler, reflecting differences in attitude to the drug. 
Cliff Dixon, assistant chief constable of Bedfordshire, said the change had "not been given enough thought" and that the home secretary might regret it in years to come. He suggested the change undermined the arrest referral and preventative education work his force had developed. Lincolnshire, which has always taken a hard line on cannabis possession, said it would enforce any change in the law with integrity, but cautioned that "clearly, there is a lot of consultation still to be undertaken" - police speak, it seems, for "we haven't made up our mind". Robin Searle, assistant chief constable of Nottinghamshire, said his force would look at the proposals with care. However, cannabis was "a dangerous drug, a gateway to harder drugs, is more carcinogenic than ordinary tobacco, and causes hallucinations which may lead to psychological problems". His attitude was shared by officers in other regional forces opposed to the Met's softened approach to cannabis possession, piloted in Lambeth earlier this year. "A lot of forces are sitting on the fence about cannabis reclassification, waiting to see the detail," said a police source. For the time being, many forces are adhering to the carefully worded response of the Association of Chief Police Officers. It did not give unqualified support to the change, but welcomed the home secretary's decision "to explore [the reclassification] further by seeking advice from scientific and medical experts. Acpo feels this will ensure that the fullest of considerations has been given to this proposal before a final decision can be made by government." One concern is stop and search: police will no longer have the power to arrest anyone in the street for cannabis possession, and prosecutions will be by court summons. Officers have argued that arrests disrupt drugs markets, and often exposes other wrongdoing. The Police Foundation inquiry into drugs dismissed the argument in a report last year, pointing to the "unwelcome consequences" for relations between the police and the public created by over-use of stop and search. Note: 'Wait and see' response masks opposition. Source: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK)Author: Nick Hopkins, Crime CorrespondentPublished: Thursday, October 25, 2001Copyright: 2001 Guardian Newspapers LimitedContact: letters guardian.co.ukWebsite: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Related Articles:Special Report: Drugs in Britain http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Campaigners Applaud Cannabis Reform http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11177.shtmlWhy Britain is Going Dutch http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11175.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on October 25, 2001 at 13:33:33 PT:
Some musings of my own
Did you know there is something called a Flat Earth Society? These are people who believe, quite honestly, that the world is indeed...flat. Despite all the space shots, all the satellites whizzing around, all the deep space probes that have sent stunning pictures of our beautiful little world hanging in The Void like a blue marble, they still insist upon saying that the Earth... is flat as a pancake."Robin Searle, assistant chief constable of Nottinghamshire, said his force would look at the proposals with care. However, cannabis was "a dangerous drug, a gateway to harder drugs, is more carcinogenic than ordinary tobacco, and causes hallucinations which may lead to psychological problems".Despite all the studies, all the facts, all the data, there will be those who, like the Flat Earthers and their own minor mania, to their dying day will insist that cannabis is a dangerous drug. And in the final analysis, when all is said and done, they will prove to be as relevent to civilization as any wild-eyed, unkempt soapbox screecher warning of the world ending tomorrow...as he has for the last 50 years.Not all the dinosaurs reside in boneyards....
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