New police guidelines in the UK which will see most cannabis- smokers let off with a verbal warning should be examined by the Government, the Green Party said yesterday.
Cannabis will be downgraded from Class B to Class C drugs from next January 29th by the British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, in a move seen by many as a step towards legalising the drug. ...
It means cannabis will move into the "least harmful" category under the UK Misuse of Drugs Act.
This includes anabolic steroids and some prescription anti-depressants.
Users will instead have the drug confiscated, and a record of the incident will be noted by police officers.
"We should examine the proposed changes in the UK's drug laws," said the Green Party's spokesman on justice, Mr Ciarán Cuffe, yesterday.
"Policing techniques and court sentencing should reflect the relative damage incurred on the individual and society," he said.
"As a new report shows that smoking kills five million people worldwide every year, we should be rethinking our approach to all drugs that are used by recreational users," Mr Cuffe added.
Mr Blunkett hopes that the new softly-softly approach to cannabis will free police resources to tackle hard drugs, such as heroin and crack cocaine, in Britain.