MEMORANDUM 73
Submitted by the Home Office
This memorandum responds to the invitation from
the Home Affairs Select Committee to give evidence to its enquiry
"The Government's drugs policy: is it working?"
1. PROGRESS ON
THE DRUGS
STRATEGY
1.1 As indicated by the Home Secretary,
in his statement to the Committee, combining the work of the Home
Office and Cabinet Office provides an opportunity to review progress
against the four aims of the Strategy. A Drugs Stocktaking Review
has therefore been launched to assess the effectiveness of the
Strategy. It will look broadly at the achievement of the aims,
whether there are any gaps or weaknesses in the Strategy and consider
whether resources could be used more effectively. The work undertaken
will feed into the next Spending Review.
1.2 This work will include a review of progress
against the Strategy targets. (See earlier Memorandum). The targets
were set in June 1999 at levels which reflected the US and Australian
targets as these were the appropriate benchmark at the time. Significant
progress has been made since then in setting up programmes and
additional funding has been provided for services and research.
Ministers have asked for a review of the targets to ensure that
they still have the right balance and focus.
2. DECRIMINALISATION
2.1 The Committee has asked the Government
for its position on decriminalisation. This is a term that has
been used frequently during the recent drug debate, but can be
interpreted in different ways. Decriminalising controlled drugs
would be to retain the prohibition on their use, replacing current
criminal sanctions with civil or administrative measures. Many
who talk about decriminalisation in fact mean legalisation, ie
removing any sanction attached to the use of drugs.
2.2 The main argument in favour of decriminalisation
is generally that it is wrong to criminalise those whose only
offence is the use of a controlled drug. But drugs are controlled
because of their harm potential and the law and its sanctions
help to limit experimentation. As some people would seem to be
attracted to experiment with controlled drugs because of their
illegality (eg "forbidden fruits"), the evidence suggests
that a great many are deterred by the law. 19 per cent of children
and 30 per cent of adults surveyed by MORI on behalf of the recent
Police Foundation Inquiry, mentioned the law as the reason for
not taking drugs. And the respective prevalence rates for controlled
drugs and alcohol and tobacco are also illustrative.
2.3 In the Government's view, the existing
range of criminal sanctions, applied with due discretion, are
preferable to decriminalisation. Minor offences are normally dealt
with by way of a warning or caution. The Government has accepted
that cautions should become immediately spent under the Rehabilitation
of Offenders Act, which will mean that the large majority of offenders
will not get a criminal record. The courts and, ultimately prison,
provide the severest sanctions for persistent or serious offenders.
About 3 per cent of those dealt with for possession of cannabis
are sent to prison. A sample analysis of this cohort showed, on
average, 14 previous criminal convictions per offender. Sentencing
data is not routinely collated to show secondary or tertiary offences,
but this sample tends to confirm the views of the enforcement
agencies, namely that where imprisonment is imposed for cannabis
offences it is usually because of the seriousness of the offence
itself or as a result of concurrent imprisonment for other criminal
offences.
2.4 The Home Secretary has asked the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to review the arguments
for re-classifying cannabis from Class "B" to Class
"C". This would not involve either legislation or decriminalisation,
but rather the re-positioning of policing and penalties, in line
with new priorities. Cannabis would remain a controlled drug,
and both possession and supply would remain a criminal offence,
with a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment for possession,
and five years for supply. The ACMD has been asked to report to
the Home Secretary within three months. The Home Secretary also
wants to take into account the Committee's inquiry into the Drugs
Strategy, and the evaluation of the current pilot in Lambeth on
policing of cannabis offences, available in February.
September 2001
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