Tough-on-drugs Britain softens its line on marijuana

For Lauren Ringwood, Britain's debate over drug laws hits close to home.

At her local bus stop in Brixton, a neighborhood where police have experimented for a year with relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws, the dealers are growing more brazen – peddling bags of "skunk" to commuters during the day.

"It's frightening," she says. You never know if they have a knife or a gun."

On Wednesday Britain said that – though marijuana is still technically illegal – it would soften enforcement nationwide so that private use of marijuana in small amounts will no longer be subject to arrest.

The announcement by Home Secretary David Blunkett in the House of Commons is sparking a media furor here, with some newspapers accusing the government of "gambling with our children." Opposed by Conservatives and some Labour members of Parliament, the decision has some critics charging that Britain is moving toward decriminalization of drugs.

But supporters say the change will allow police to focus on more serious drug crimes. Within the European Union, Britain has the most drug-related deaths, with heroin the most frequent cause.

In announcing the change, which puts marijuana in the same category as antidepressants and steroids, Mr. Blunkett said that the sentence for marijuana dealing would be increased to a 14-year maximum.

The plan also includes increased funding for treatment of abusers – to $283 million over the next three years – and for antidrug education programs.

Several European countries have recently eased drug laws. Marijuana is legal in the Netherlands, and Spain and Italy do not jail users of small amounts of drugs intended for personal consumption. Portugal has gone the furthest toward decriminalization of drug use, ordering treatment rather than jail time in cases of possession of small amounts of any illegal drug.

Though it will be July 2003 before Britain's decision becomes law, the Metropolitan Police said its officers would adopt the policy from October this year, with other forces likely to follow. Police can now let users off with a warning and confiscate the drug, but they retain the right to arrest those who endanger public order with "aggravated behavior."

Until the much-heralded "Softly, Softly" experiment in Brixton, Britain had taken a tougher approach to cannabis possession than had any other European country, endorsing a five-year jail sentence for possession.

According to a study by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Abuse, Britain has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in Europe.

"Our research nationwide showed that over 50 percent of young people in Britain had taken cannabis, but that very few had gone on to hard drugs," says Sir Michael Rawlins, the chairman of the medical think tank that advises the Home Office on drug issues.

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