Smith tightens laws on cannabis on Home Services

May

Smith tightens laws on cannabis

posted by admin in Home Loan Services

Cannabis users could in future be automatically arrested and charged on their second offence, Jacqui Smith announced as she defied her own experts to tighten laws on possession of the drug.

The Home Secretary overrode the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to confirm that cannabis would be restored from a class C to a class B substance by the end of the year.

Ms Smith pointed to claims that “alarming” levels of super-strength cannabis were in circulation and fears that the Home drug could damage mental health.

She also set out plans to limit the number of cautions police can issue to people caught with the drug and to curb the sale of cannabis seeds, bongs and other paraphernalia.

The move â€“ four years after the drug was downgraded by the former home secretary David Blunkett â€“ will mean the maximum penalty for cannabis possession rises from two to five years in prison.

Ms Smith rejected suggestions by police chiefs that they might retain the option of Home simply cautioning cannabis users.

The Home Secretary said she wanted a “clear and workable system of escalation”, making clear she expected tough action upon their second offence.

She said: “I am not against cannabis warnings, but I believe it is unacceptable for someone to receive more than one warning and for that warning not to be properly recorded.”

Ms Smith promised that tougher penalties already introduced for drug dealers who target schools would be widened to cover those near prisons and mental health institutions.

Hours before her Commons statement, the ACMD said cannabis should remain in category C as it was less dangerous than category B substances. The council’s members, including scientists and health experts, supported the recommendation by 20 votes to three.

It said it had uncovered no new evidence on the health dangers from cannabis. The council reported a “probable, but weak, causal” link between cannabis use and psychotic illness, but suggested that 5,000 young men would have to give up cannabis to prevent one case of schizophrenia. It also said there was scant evidence that cannabis use led to use of more Home dangerous substances.

The council called for tough restrictions on cannabis paraphernalia and recommended that cigarette papers often used to roll joints should carry health warnings.

Asked about the Government’s decision, Sir Michael Rawlins, its chairman, said: “I have been on government committees for many years. Sometimes they have taken my advice, sometimes not.”

Martin Barnes, chief executive DrugScope, said: “The message given by this decision is that drugs policy can be driven as much by political considerations, media headlines and scare stories as by the Home evidence.”

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, suggested Ms Smith “establish a new committee of tabloid newspaper editors” for advice.