DRUGS POLICY CHANGE REJECTED

Calls for changes in the law over ecstasy and cannabis have been ruled
out by government drugs czar Keith Hellawell.

A report from the independent Police Foundation has recommended an end
to prison sentences for users of such drugs and other wide-ranging
changes.

But Mr Hellawell said at a conference in Brighton on
Tuesday: "There will be no change in the categorisation
of cannabis and ecstasy. We see no justification for it.
It would not improve the situation, it would make it worse."

The Police Foundation report recommends changes in the classification
of individual drugs and associated penalties, with ecstasy and LSD
moved from Class A to Class B, the same category as
amphetamines.

But the report does not suggest any drugs should be
legalised.

The two-year study was carried out by the Police Foundation, a body
partly funded by the Home Office with a panel including drugs experts,
police officers and senior lawyers.

The report argues that current laws have had limited success in
deterring people from taking drugs.

The inquiry, called Drugs and the Law, recommends that heroin and
cocaine remain Class A drugs, but cannabis should be transferred from
Class B to Class C.

And it calls for a new offence targeting persistent drugs dealers and
greater confiscation of assets from traffickers.

On prison sentences, the inquiry recommends they should be abolished
for possession of Class B and C drugs, while the maximum prison
sentences for possession of Class A drugs should be reduced.

The report also proposes an end to the ban on the therapeutic use of
cannabis for specified medical purposes.

'Accurate messages'

Lady Ruth Runciman, the former head of the government's drug advisory
council who chaired the report committee, said the foundation wanted a
shift in balance "towards treating use as a health problem, not a
crime problem and becoming tougher on those who traffic".

She went on: "We have been concerned to ensure that the categorisation
of drugs reflects up-to-date knowledge and applies penalties that are
proportionate to the harm.

"Ecstasy is a dangerous drug and we are not saying in any way that it
isn't.

"What we're concerned to do is to deliver accurate messages about it
and to ensure that young people do not devalue the most dangerous
drugs of all ... heroin, opiates and cocaine."

'Slap on the wrist'

But Mr Hellawell said decriminalising cannabis and removing prison
sentences for possessing class B drugs was not the answer.

He said: "As far as cannabis is concerned, the report talks about
depenalisation, making it an offence for which you cannot go to prison.

"But there are problems with that. What happens if someone is caught
in possession of cannabis on a number of occasions? If you have no
sanction apart from a slap on the wrist you have virtually
decriminalised it.

"In relation to prison, very few people go to jail for cannabis. But
if people continue to flout the law, prison must be the final sanction."

Downing Street had already indicated that it the government was not
prepared to soften its stance on drugs.

The prime minister's official spokesman, Alastair Campbell, said
ministers had made it clear that relaxing the laws would send the
wrong signal.