Today David Blunkett issued a statement proposing that cannabis be declassified from a class B to class C drug, freeing up police to concentrate on harder drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin.
The move follows the start of a 6 month experiment in Lambeth, south London, where police are not arresting those found in possession of small amounts of cannabis, but simply issuing a verbal warning and confiscating the plant.
Although this move has been welcomed in part, many campaigners feel it is not enough. Last year the government categorically rejected a report written by Prince Charles' Police Foundation, much to the insult of the highly experienced staff involved. The report indicated that nationwide the police felt cannabis to be far less dangerous to users or society around them than alcohol, and far less addictive than a simple cup of coffee.
The Police Foundation recommended complete legalisation in their report, finding it futile to continue to persecute ordinary citizens who were no harm, especially as official estimates rate the number of cannabis users in the UK at 3 million, while independant research considers the value to be far higher.
They are not alone. It's clear that the proposed system of no longer incarcerating those found in possesion of the plant yet continuing with sentances of up to five years to those who supply it is, at best, hippocritical. With hundreds of thousands of people suffering from debilitating illnesses that some find are only eased by the use of this natural herb, it is difficult to guess where David Blunkett proposes people acquire their medicine.
As has been found in the 76 years since cannabis was peculiarly made illegal, those found guilty of supply are more often than not friends and acquiantances of those who consume cannabis, equivalent to the mate you send down to the offie while you cook dinner. The common image of the scheming dealer is simply not true; except perhaps in the case of those who push substances like crack purely for their own profit.
Hopefully, David Blunkett and all those who've been trying to make themselves heard for many decades will get their rational debate, and it is there we will find sensible policies grounded in reality.