According to the Daily Mail, police forces across the country have been given the “greenlight to stop arresting greenlight cannabis users”. The announcement was made by assistant chief constable Jason Harwin, who is the drugs spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the body that develops nationwide operational policies.
Harwin is quoted as saying, “asking for cannabis users to go for treatment rather than prosecuting them could prevent re-offending and provide the best outcome”. The news follows on from last week’s disclosure by chief constable of the West Midlands force, Dave Thompson, that his officers to not even give final warnings to young cannabis users because it would be “disastrous for their life chances”.
The UK law on cannabis is that possesion of a class B drug can lead to a five-year prison sentence, and an unlimited fine. However, anyone who grows cannabis as a plant, or deals with cannabis as a business could be given a sentence of up 14-years, again with an unlimited fine.
Harwin claims that there is strong evidence that giving treatment to minor offenders from an early stage instead of pursuing convictions can prevent re-offending and result in better outcomes for the user of cannabis and the criminal justice system.
The NPCC guidelines say that if a recommendation for treatment is made, then no arrest need take place. In response to the NPCC statement, the Home Office commented that the police chiefs are expected to enforce the law and that under the present law “possession of cannabis is a criminal offence”.
My personal opinion is that cannabis is so widely used that recreational use should be decriminalised, as it has been for example in Portugal, Luxembourg and Croatia.
This would also allow the police to focus their time more efficiently on more important criminal offences.
I went around the University of East London and asked some students whether offering treatment could help prevent cannabis use.