London, United Kingdom:  Members of Parliament (MP) endorsed plans to make marijuana possession a non-arrestable offense, in a report released yesterday by the House of Commons home affairs committee.  The policy recommendation echoes demands made previously by Home Secretary David Blunkett in October 2001 and Parliament's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in March.

"We support ... the Home Secretary's proposal to reclassify cannabis from Class B to Class C," the committee concluded.  Under such a scheme, "possession of cannabis would cease to be an 'arrestable offense,' which means that the offense would no longer attract the investigative powers which attach to arrestable offenses, e.g. the power to enter and search premises without a warrant, and will leave police free to concentrate on more harmful drugs."

Class C is the least harmful category of illegal drugs under British law.  Although possession of Class C drugs technically carries a two-year maximum prison term, only offenses punishable by at least five years imprisonment are arrestable in England.

Reclassifying pot recognizes that marijuana's health risks are marginal compared to those of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, MPs said.  "We do not believe there is anything to be gained by exaggerating [marijuana's] harmfulness," they determined.  "On the contrary, exaggeration undermines the credibility of messages that we wish to send regarding more harmful drugs."

In March, the ACMD reached a similar conclusion, finding, "The current classification of cannabis is disproportionate in relation to both its inherent harmfulness, and to the harmfulness of other substances, such as amphetamines, that are currently in Class B."

Parliament is expected to formally downgrade marijuana by July.

Other recommendations made by the home affairs committee include allowing the use of certain cannabis-based medicines and ceasing prosecution of those who supply or share drugs on a not-for-profit basis.  

The committee also said the United Nations should reconsider the appropriateness of global anti-drug treaties, and begin investigating alternative policies, "including the possibility of legalization and regulation to tackle the global drugs dilemma."

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-8751.  A summary of previous government-commissioned drug policy reports is available from NORML online at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3382.