London's drugs experiment wins residents' support

A police scheme in which people possessing cannabis are given only a verbal warning has won the overwhelming backing of the residents in the area where it is being piloted.

A police scheme in which people possessing cannabis are given only a verbal warning has won the overwhelming backing of the residents in the area where it is being piloted.

More than 80 per cent of people questioned in the south London borough of Lambeth, which includes Brixton, said they supported the liberal approach to cannabis.

The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office are to continue monitoring the scheme at least until June before deciding whether to make the policy permanent and extend it to other areas.

The architect of the experiment, Commander Brian Paddick, has been moved from his job as head of the Lambeth division while allegations that he smoked cannabis – which he denies – and allowed a former boyfriend to take the drug in his flat are investigated.

Under the scheme, which began last July, officers can give a verbal warning for the possession of small amounts for personal use. About 450 people have been warned.

The initiative is aimed at freeing officers to focus on harder drugs, such as heroin and crack cocaine. This appears to be working in Lambeth, as the latest figures show a 35 per cent increase in recorded drug possession offences and an 11 per cent increase in trafficking offences. In contrast, possession offences fell by 4 per cent and trafficking offences by 34 per cent in adjoining boroughs.

Only 8 per cent of residents questioned disapproved of the initiative, the Police Foundation study discovered; 36 per cent supported it outright, and 47 per cent gave it conditional support.

Sir John Stevens, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said yesterday that the project had saved 1,350 hours of police time in six months – almost the equivalent of two extra officers. In addition, 1,150 hours of criminal justice unit time had been freed.

Asked about the impact of the scheme, 74 per cent of the 2,055 people interviewed agreed that the police would redirect resources into serious crime, and 29 per cent thought the scheme would lead to a decrease in serious crime; 45 per cent, however, believed it would make no difference.

More white residents (41 per cent) than black (28 per cent) or Asian (25 per cent) supported the scheme.

A national survey on the scheme earlier this year found that 76 per cent of adults questioned approved of it. Critics have accused the police of going soft on drugs, while supporters believe it is a more progressive approach that makes better uses of resources.

There has been some misunderstanding about the scheme, according to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mike Fuller, who has been overseeing the project. He said: "The public were unclear about what was happening and thought drugs were being legalised and that wasn't the case. Officers are still seizing the cannabis."

Only 14 per cent of those polled knew that cannabis was still being confiscated by the police. The average amount of cannabis confiscated was 3.6 grams for herbal cannabis and 4.9 grams for resin.

Mr Fuller added that there was a problem with juveniles, who previously would have had their parents brought to the police station rather than just getting a warning.

"The feeling is that we should involve parents, and that's something that has to be resolved before we extend it to other boroughs," he said.

Mr Fuller added that it was too early to make a definitive evaluation of the scheme. "What we want to be confident about is that there will be no detrimental effects, which is why it should be going at least 12 months," he said.

Of the 51 of Lambeth's 860 police officers who responded to an internal survey, many felt the scheme had made no difference to the way they spent their time on duty, that it would lead to increased use of cannabis and Class A drugs and that it should be discontinued. They were also concerned about losing opportunities to gain intelligence.

William Saulsbury, the Police Foundation's assistant director, who oversaw the survey, said: "There is strong evidence that a high proportion of Lambeth residents support the scheme as a rational approach on the part of the police.

"They recognise that such a scheme does not offer a magic wand for reducing serious crime and use of hard drugs, but they expect, and believe, that the time saved with the new approach will be put to those ends."

The report was published three days after Commander Paddick was moved to another post and an inquiry was launched into allegations that he regularly smoked cannabis. The claims were made by his former partner James Renolleau, who was paid for his story by a tabloid newspaper.

Speaking yesterday at a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Sir John Stevens said: "It's very difficult for Brian, being there in Brixton with a criminal allegation going on, to carry on with his job. I think that he has done a great job down there. We will have to await the outcome of the inquiry."