Cannabis: It's still illegal

FOR the last 15 years of his life, Philip Caswell smoked cannabis every day. During the 32-year-old's murder trial, Winchester Crown Court heard Caswell had used the drug regularly since he was 17.

Experts believed his addiction had worsened an existing personality disorder, which was what led him to kill his ex-girlfriend.

Stephanie Hancock was just 22 when Caswell, who is now serving a life sentence, smashed her head against a wall and strangled her with a cord.

He then went to the kitchen the couple shared at their home in Pegasus Close, Gosport, got a knife and stabbed her four times in the back in July 2002 after the breakdown of their relationship.

Nick Atkinson, mitigating, told the court that cannabis had a part in Caswell's anti-social personality disorder.

He said: "It continued to maintain him in an unreal cloud of existence."

The government will tomorrow reclassify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug.

An independent expert committee the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which advises the government on drug classifications, has recommended the change, after saying cannabis was harmful, but less harmful than other class B drugs, such as amphetamines.

The family of Stephanie Hancock may well disagree.

The move comes as part of the government's overall drug strategy, which focuses on class A drugs, such as heroin and crack/cocaine, which are believed to cause the greatest harm to individuals, their families and communities. The government says the change in classification will enable the police to target class A drugs as well as enchancing work to get people into treatment.

With 44 per cent of 16 to 29-year-olds already admitting they have tried cannabis at some point in their lives, with half of them using it in the last year, how will these changes really affect the Hampshire population?

Christine Tebano, from Southamp-ton-based Parent Support Link, an organisation offering advice to parents worried about drugs, said there needed to be more clear information available about exactly what the changes meant.

She said: "The biggest concern we've had is that people are not getting enough information. There's a lot of myth about it. People are thinking that it's going to be made legal and it's about how we get clear, factual information.

"I spoke to a lady in her 70s who thought it was legal and that she would be able to use it to help with her arthritic condition."

Christine added the backlash from the reclassification had already started.

"People are telling their parents it's legal and they're not going to get into trouble about it. We've got to fight against that as well.

"It's not just educating the young people, it's educating the parents as well and making sure that they get the facts.

"I'm quite worried that we will see an upturn in cannabis use, purely because people think it's going to be okay to use."

Christine has been working with volunteers to give out information about the reclassifcation at various venues across the city over the last few weeks and is planning to continue with the campaign in the coming months.

She said: "It's still illegal and there are consequences. The consequences for your health are not going to change."

The fact that cannabis is still illegal and still harmful is the main message being put across in the £1m government information initiative to educate the public about the change in the law.

Running from last week, the latest Frank campaign features a number of radio adverts and leaflets which have been created with young people in mind to warn about the legal, health and social effects of cannabis.

Hugh Marriage, Home Office director for the south-east, said he welcomed the "more realistic" approach to cannabis.

He added: "While it is important that cannabis remains illegal, and you can still be arrested for having it, it is not as dangerous as other class B drugs like amphetamines, and it is better grouped with other class C drugs, like Rohypnol.

"I hope that the debate around this reclassification can also be used to highlight the real health issues around drug taking.

"Because young people are generally healthy, it is difficult to get the message across that drug taking, smoking and excessive drinking, can have serious effects on your health later in life."

Israel Manganzo, senior clinical specialist at drug treatment service New Road Centre, agreed more clear information was needed to ensure members of the public were correctly informed about the consequences of the reclassification.

He said: "More information needs to be provided to people to be made aware of the current changes.

"Without that, people are going to be lost as to where they stand in terms of the law. Most people are getting mixed messages about whether it's legal for them to be smoking and what's going to happen if they get found with a small amount.

"They need to be quite clear with young people because that's the generation it will affect most."

He added that more information about the health risks of using cannabis also needed to be made available.

"Most people are beginning to say that these changes mean there are no risks with using cannabis, when of course there are."

HOW WILL THINGS BE DIFFERENT AFTER THE RECLASSIFICATION?

Some things will not change as a result:

The maximum sentence for dealing is still 14 years.

You can still be arrested for possessing cannabis.

If the police find you with cannabis, it will still be taken off you.

Young people under 18 will still be taken to a police station for having cannabis.

If you have a cannabis conviction you will still be refused entry to some countries and may be refused certain jobs.

It still affects your health.

Some things will be different:

The classification and handling of cannabis is being brought into line with existing practice and making the classification more credible.

The maximum sentence for possession reduces from five years to three years. (The average sentence at the moment is below nine months, with few people receiving the current maximum sentence).

Class C reflects more accurately the way cannabis should be regarded by the criminal justice system.

Adults are less likely to be arrested for straightforward possession of cannabis.

The real dangers of taking cannabis are being highlighted - alongside those of smoking and excessive drinking - and urging people to talk to Frank on 0800 776600.