Cannabis use 急に上がるd as 労働軟化するd the 法律

by STEVE DOUGHTY, Daily Mail

Last updated at 10:54 03 March 2005

The number of people caught with cannabis 急に上がるd after the 政府発表するd it was making 所有／入手 of the 麻薬 a いっそう少なく serious 罪，犯罪.

In just two years, there was an 増加する of 23.5 per cent as many 十代の少年少女s assumed the 麻薬 had been decriminalised.

The alarming rise （機の）カム even before police were ordered to stop 逮捕（する）ing and taking to 法廷，裁判所 those 設立する with small 量s of the 麻薬, which has now been 公式に "downgraded".

Since then - the first published 証拠 showed yesterday - use of cannabis has 発射 up even more. The 人物／姿／数字s were 解放（する）d by the Home Office on the day the 国際連合非難するd the 政府 for going 平易な on cannabis and 警告するd that it was sending 使用者s "the wrong signal".

Only last week a 熟考する／考慮する by 著名な psychiatrists 論証するd the powerful links between cannabis and mental illness.

十代の少年少女s who smoke cannabis are 4.5 times more likely than others to 苦しむ problems, 含むing schizophrenia by their 中央の-twenties.

Yesterday's 人物／姿／数字s for those caught with the 麻薬 show the numbers using it raced 上向きs as soon as then Home 長官 David Blunkett 発表するd the downgrading of the 真面目さ of 所有するing cannabis に引き続いて労働's 2001 選挙 victory.

Rising 人物／姿／数字s

In that year, some 66,410 people were 警告を与えるd, 罪人／有罪を宣告するd or さもなければ dealt with by the 法廷，裁判所s for cannabis offences - the lowest for a １０年間.

By the に引き続いて year, numbers had gone up by nearly 12,000 to 78,050. In 2003, there was a その上の jump to 82,060, a rise of 23.5 per cent in just two years and a 劇の逆転 of the 拒絶する／低下する in cannabis use （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd since 1998.

There were big jumps, too, in the numbers of people caught using コカイン and 割れ目 over the same period.

The downgrading of cannabis, from a Class B 麻薬と一緒に amphetamines to Class C, a 部類含むing prescription 薬／医学s and anabolic steroids, went ahead in January last year.

Powerful 証拠 of what has happened since then has been 供給（する）d by the 主要都市の Police, which said that the number of people caught with cannabis in London in summer 2004 was 33 per cent up on 2003 levels.

The downgrading means 所有／入手 is no longer an arrestable offence.

Police are under 指示／教授／教育s not to 逮捕（する） those 設立する with small 量s of the 麻薬 but to 問題／発行する an informal 警告 and 押収する the cannabis.

'Wrong signals'

Yesterday Professor Hamid Ghodse, 大統領，／社長 of the UN International 麻薬s 支配（する）／統制する Board, said: "What the UK has done with cannabis does not 違反 international 条約s. The problem is that probably it gives the wrong message and the wrong signals. 麻薬使用者s have misinterpreted what the 政府 has done."

The price of cannabis has dropped by around 40 per cent in five years, other Home Office 人物／姿／数字s showed yesterday. An ounce of the 麻薬 which cost ￡100 in December 1999 would be just ￡61 now.

コカイン fell from ￡63 a gram to ￡51 over the same period while ヘロイン slipped from ￡65 a gram to ￡55. A 200mg "激しく揺する" of 割れ目 is ￡18, 負かす／撃墜する from ￡20 at the end of 1999, and an Ecstasy pill is now ￡4 instead of ￡11.

Asked about the 感情を害する／違反するing 人物／姿／数字s, a Home office 広報担当者 said: "The reclassification of cannabis has helped police and customs 的 Class A 麻薬s such as 割れ目 and コカイン which 原因（となる） the most 害（を与える） to individuals, families and communities.

"早期に指示，表示する物s are that 逮捕（する）s for cannabis 所有／入手 have fallen since reclassification."