September 18, 2013
Countries all over the world take different approaches to the policing of marijuana possession and consumption. In many places it is widely assumed that the drug is legal, whereas in fact it is technically illegal, but tolerated in specific circumstances, such as a decision not to prosecute those who possess small amounts for personal use.
In the United Kingdom, marijuana is a “Class B” drug: it’s illegal. The maximum penalty for supplying or producing marijuana is 14 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine; the maximum penalty for possession is five years imprisonment. However, imprisonment for possession of marijuana (as distinct from supplying) is very rare. In practice an “escalation penalty” system is in operation. When someone is caught for the first time with a small amount of cannabis for personal use the police have the option of using a “cannabis warning”: a spoken warning given by a police officer, either on the street or at the police station. On a subsequent occasion someone possessing cannabis may be issued with a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND). PNDs are tickets that police officers can issue at the scene of an incident or in custody – they carry an on-the-spot fine of £80. Neither a PND nor a cannabis warning results in a criminal record.
Speaking at the time the policy was adopted more than ten years ago, Andy Hayman, then deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said ”people caught with small amounts of cannabis for personal use will not be arrested unless they are under age. You will be challenged, because to have possession of that drug is illegal. But the guidance is going to say focus on class A [drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine].” This police approach mirrors that of the Crown Prosecution Service, whose principle in charging someone with having commited a crime asks two questions: 1) if the evidence is strong enough to provide a reasonable chance of conviction; 2) if it is in the public interest to take the case to court. It was not a case of a change in the law, but a change in how best to enforce that law.
The practical impact of this approach is debated: the Economist newspaper declared in March 2012 that ”cannabis has in effect been decriminalised in Britain” and in April of this year a group called London Cannabis Club organised a pro-legalisation rally at which hundreds were alleged to have smoked marjuana openly in Hyde Park. Anti-drugs campaigners complained that police had acted too leniently. If the ultimate objective is to reduce use of the drug, the non-confrontational approach of the police may have been successful. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the proportion of people who admit to having used cannabis in Britain has fallen more quickly than in any other European country over the past few years. Just 6.8% of adults told another survey that they used cannabis in 2010, down from 10.9% eight years earlier.
The UK experience appears to be that reducing the penalties has also led to reducing the abuse.
Arthur Snell
Source: http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/
