UK - UK police try out successfull: stop prosecuting drug crimes. Will UK go National?

[Alfa]

DRUGS POLICY TURNS FAILING FORCE AROUND
The police force at the centre of a controversial Government drugs initiative has jumped from the bottom of performance tables for solving drugs crime to the top.

It follows the decision that people possessing large amounts of Class A substances should not be prosecuted for dealing.
Official statistics show that in the space of a year Nottinghamshire Police has gone from being the joint second worst of England and Wales's 43 forces for clearing up drugs crime to the best in the country.
But the transformation coincided with the force being used as the testing ground for the new policy for fighting drugs crimes. It means that anyone possessing seven grams of heroin or cocaine or 17 ounces of cannabis - enough for about 2,400 joints - is seen as having them for personal use.

People with such quantities may previously have been prosecuted for dealing but are now charged with lesser offences requiring no further investigation.

The policy was revealed last week and the Home Office now wants to roll it out nationally. Critics say the approach means that most pushers are escaping prosecution, and the Association of Chief Police Officers said that most would end up simply carrying amounts just below the prescribed limits.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said officers were very pleased at the impact the policy had made on its statistical performance.
But Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP for Newark, said the guidelines were a declaration to street drug dealers to ply their trade.
He said: "The turnaround seems too good to be true to me. I am concerned that police are taking an easy option and concentrating on statistics rather than clearing up crime."

Nottinghamshire's progression up the tables is all the more remarkable because its chief constable, Steve Green, told this newspaper in March that his officers couldn't cope with the number of murders in Nottingham, many related to drug turf wars.
The scheme's effect on the statistics has been startling. In 2003-4 Nottinghamshire police recorded 4,582 drugs offences and claimed a "detection rate" of 89 per cent. The latter figure was well below the national average of 93 per cent and placed on a par with the West Midlands and Bedfordshire forces. Only the Metropolitan Police performed worse.
But when the figures for 2004-5 were compiled, the number of drugs offences had dropped to 3,959 and the detection rate rocketed to 103 per cent.

[thegod1]

Sounds great. Hopefully London is next

[blackbastard]

fuck me!

17oz? thats some personal stash!

[Kittyofftitty]

Yeah 17oz is a lot, but 7 grams of coke isn't very much, there are probably a lot of high end users that buy coke 7 grams at a time and most certainly aren't dealers. It doesn't really make sense to me that they would put the cut off point so high for weed (I don't think more than a handful of people have over a pound on them for personal use) yet they put the point for cocaine at a level that could often label users as dealers.

[enquirewithin]

This sounds too good to be true and a potential triumph for common sense. 17 oz-- that's a decent stash! Perhaps the point is not to bother with petty dealers?

[bonghed]

So it would be

[podge]

its definatley a step in the right direction.....i hope they really do implement it. it does sound a little too good to be true.

[Alfa]

And it was. The bill above has been changed to the opposite: it lowers the amount for personal use to extremely low amounts. It means that a small amount of anything will get you a intent to distribute sentence. This includes very low amounts of cannabis, so cannabis would be recriminalised.

[MaxCamel]

God how it sucks living under the finger of George Dubbya... I voted for Gore and Kerry, so dont blame me...

[psyche]

This makes me believe this almost hundred-year-long tale is going to have a happy ending after all. At least if this direction in kept. Just wonder how much the (drug)turism of Nottinghamshire has grown...

[grecian]

Originally Posted by Alfa

And it was. The bill above has been changed to the opposite: it lowers the amount for personal use to extremely low amounts. It means that a small amount of anything will get you a intent to distribute sentence. This includes very low amounts of cannabis, so cannabis would be recriminalised.

clearly another travesty of justice if this bill becomes law, this really does represent the hypocracy(sp) of the 'war on drugs'. though it does raise the question; why have the trial/initiative if positive results are going to be ignored (or in this case contradicted) in policy making?

[grecian]

Originally Posted by MaxCamel

God how it sucks living under the finger of George Dubbya... I voted for Gore and Kerry, so dont blame me...

Did you not read the article or have Blair and Bush finally got their wish and made Britain the 51st state?

[dirk]

A couple of you guys remark on 17 Oz being a big stash, which I suppose it is, though you could imagine it as being quite reasonable if you consider someone growing at home (without lights) would have to grow a years supply at a time. this would allow him to avoid interacting with commercial drug dealers in order to provide himself with medical marijuana.

Of course, the police are used to the idea of every last part of the plant being weighed, (sometimes including the soil) not just the quality bud.