UK - Cannabis users to face fixed penalty

[Pondlife]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...8/ncbis118.xml

Cannabis users to face fixed penalty

By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:42pm GMT 17/02/2008

Tens of thousands of people caught with a single joint of cannabis will get an unofficial criminal record that could blight their future employment prospects under new police proposals, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

The new powers are likely to form part of a summer crackdown on the drug amid concerns about the spiralling mental health toll from super-strength "skunk" cannabis, which now accounts for 80 per cent of the UK market.

Police want tougher powers to be brought in regardless of whether ministers decide to return cannabis to Class B status later this year after a group of advisers on drugs make their recommendations.

Only a fraction of the estimated three million regular cannabis smokers in Britain are punished.

Figures for the Metropolitan Police show that between April 2005 and January 2006, 24,916 people in London were accused of cannabis possession. But nearly seven in 10 were let off with a formal warning.

Typically, no record is kept of the offence because it is defined in law as a civil penalty with no evidence presented in court.

Yet senior police officers have told The Daily Telegraph they want to treat those being caught with cannabis as seriously as speeding, where a pattern of repeat offending eventually leads to a driving ban.

Under the new plans, people caught in possession of cannabis will be fined and issued with a fixed penalty notice, which are routinely recorded on the Police National Computer.

This would allow police to keep track of repeat offenders and take further action if necessary. The penalty notices would also be disclosed to some potential employers, with the agreement of the particular force's chief constable.

It would not affect anyone's ability to enter countries such as America which can ban travellers with a record of drug offences.

However, officers are also discussing a third option with Home Office lawyers that would see repeat low level possession punished with a criminal conviction and a criminal record.

Simon Byrne, an assistant chief constable and the national lead on policing cannabis for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said sanctions against cannabis possession were not strong enough.

He said: "You can drive a car along the road with no seat belt and get a fixed penalty notice. Or you can use your phone and get points on your licence and an £80 fine.

"But you can walk the streets in possession of an illegal drug and technically you get your wrist slapped."

Mr Byrne, who is Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, said the new notices would be disclosable to some employers when they were carrying out background checks on potential recruits.

He added: "The sanction could simply be a financial one or it could be a financial one plus a criminal record which obviously then has an impact on your future life if you are trying to go for certain types of job."

The plans are likely to be put to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, by the end of the spring. They are not contingent on the reclassification of cannabis from Class C to Class B status.

The new powers would allow police to send a message on cannabis possession, Mr Byrne said.

He added: "It is about different forms of sanction within the criminal justice system sending out the message that rather than have your wrist slapped you are going to get a penalty."

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Home Office has not yet received any proposals on this matter from ACPO. The Government will give them careful consideration once received."