Relaxation of cannabis laws is proposed HOME NEWS BY OUR HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT Large reductions in the penalties for possessing cannabis are pro- posed by the Home Secretary's Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence, in a report published today. The committee recommends also that landlords of pnrvate premises should not be liable when cannabis is used on the premises without their knowledge, The committee rejeots for -the present the case for legalizing' cannabis, but says that the drug should be judged more realistically i in our codes of law and social behaviour ". The report was prepared by a. subcommittee under the chair- manship of Lady Wootton of Abinger. Among its main pro- posals are: Possession of a smiall amount of cannabis shoutd not normally be regarded as a serious crime to be punished by imprisonrment. The sentence for unlawful posses- Sion, sale or supply of cannabis should be an unlinited fine and/ or two years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment; and ?100 fine and/or four months' impnsonment on summary con- viction. Both academic and financial en- couragement should be given to suitable projects for inquiry into the problem. The law should be recast progres- sively to give Parliament greater flexibility of control over indivi- dual drugs. Cannabis is the generic name for Indian hemp, and is also called Inarijuana or hashish. The report says the response to cannabis varies according to the form in which it is taken and the dose con- sumed. When it is smoked the effect normally comes within half an hour and lasts for two or three hours; when it is taken by mouth, the onset is delayed sometimes by up to three hours. Most of the witnesses who gave evidence to the subcommittee said cannabis had a relaxing effect. Other sensations that users looked for were euphoria, 'tolerance of environment, and-at a more in- tellectual level-awareness of self. Tle report says the number of convictions involving cannabis in- creased from four in 1945 to' almost 2,400 in 1967. But most of the witneses said they con- -sidered that the majority of users were responsible and law-abiding. The subcommittee says that pro- .portionaliy there have been more convictions against immigrants than indigenous British nationals. The supply of cannabis has been provided both by highly organized and "amateur" smuggling. The casual smuggling was done by people returning from holidays abroad or by post from overseas to immigrants living in Britain. Lebanon, Pakistan and Cyprus vere mentioned by witnesses as .major sources of supply, and it was suggested that hashish made up O0 per cent of the traffic. Reviewing the evidence, the sub- committee says it is clear that in terms of physical harmfulness can- nabis is " very much less dan- gerous than the opiates, ampheta- mines and barbiturates, and also less dangerous than alcohol". But the drug's mental effects were much less clear. Too little was known about the patterns of its use to predict that it would pro- duce influences similar to those of alcohol. Even witnesses who saw least dangers in the drug were con- cerned to discourage juveniles from using it. The report says: ." We conclude, therefore, that in the interests of public health it is necessarv to maintain restrictions on the avail- ability and use of this dru. For the purpose of enforcing these re- strictions, there is no alternative to the criminal law and its penalties." The traditional view of the supplier of cannabis as " a large- scale criminal" is an oversim- plification, the report adds. After considering whether the law could distinguish between the supplier and the taker, the sub- committee has decided that the only practical way to legislate for the next few years is to retain the principle of a single. offence- namely unlawful possession, sale *or supply of cannabis or its deri- vatives. " This offence should carry a low range of penalties on sum- mary conviction, but a substan- tially higher range on indictment. If such legislation were brought in, we would anticipate that the police would proceed on indict- ment only in those cases in which they believe that there was an organized large-scale trafficking. Offences involving sirnple pos- Swsion and small4ecale trafficking would, we hope, be dealt with summarily." In other words, the effect would be that the maximum sentences proposed for conviction on indict- ment-an unlimited fine or two Years' imprisonment-would be reserved for the large-scale trafficker. For the user, the report says that the main purpose is to. remove for practical purposes the prospect of imprisonment for possession of a small amount of cannabis, and to demonstrate that taking the drug in moderation is a relatively minor offence. O>n summnary conviction, the sub- committee says that it would have preferred in many ways simply to have limited the punishment to 'maaimlumnfine ofj?100. But the alternative of a four-month prison sentence gave the judiciary useful discretion in dealing with diffi- cult cases, such as the persistent small-scale trafficker. At present, section 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1965 makes it an offence for an occupier to " permit " premises to be used for smoking or dealing in cannabis, and for any person to be con- cerned in the management of premises used for any such pur- pose. The precise effect of this section is now being considered by the House of Lords- in the case of Miss Stephanie Sweet. The report comments: "So far as cannabis is concerned, we have found nothing to justify making posses- sion without knowledge an offence to which the law provides no defence." It recommends that.in cases con- cerning private premises, the sec- tion should be repealed. The sec- tion should be redefined in its application to premises open to the public and should remove the absolute nature of the liability on managers. * Notes of reservation on the report have been added by Mr. P. E. Brodie, Assistant Com- missioner at Scotland Yard, who suggests that the courts should have powers to impose a prison sentence of up to' five years when it is clear that cannabis is intended for sale; and on different grounds by Mr. Michael Schofield. Cannabis. Report by the Advisory Committee on Drug Dependence. (Stationery Office, 7s. 6d.) Leading 2ricle, page 9. Relaxation of cannabis laws is proposed