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Sadiq Khan is reportedly set to decriminalise drugs in London and wants to end the prosecution of young people caught with cannabis.
The London Mayor will allow under-25s caught with Class B drugs – which include cannabis – to be offered speeding course-style classes or counselling instead of arrest.
The boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley will be subject to the rules of the new scheme, the Telegraph reported.
It will see police officers told not to arrest young people caught with drugs including cannabis, ketamine or speed.
Instead, offenders will be taken back to their family homes and kept out of cells.
Sadiq Khan is reportedly set to decriminalise drugs in London and wants to end the prosecution of young people caught with cannabis
The London Mayor will allow under-25s caught with Class B drugs – which include cannabis – to be offered speeding course-style classes or counselling instead of arrest. Pictured: In April, thousands of marijuana fans flocked to Hyde Park to openly smoke cannabis as they celebrated ‘420 day’
However, the move comes less than a month after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a major crackdown on recreational drug use.
He warned middle class users he will not sit ‘idly by’ and let them fund crime and said they faced being stripped of their passports and driving licences under new curbs.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who was the director of public prosecutions before he entered Parliament, has previously said he does not think decriminalisation should be pursued in England.
Mr Khan’s scheme will reportedly be announced this month and will be spearheaded by Lewisham mayor Damien Egan.
The new policy is based on research suggesting police time would be better spent on serious and violent crime, instead of punishing those caught with cannabis.
The amnesty plans could extend to all Class B drugs, meaning that the likes of ketamine and amphetamines, which are popularly known as ‘speed’, would also be effectively decriminalised.
Mr Khan’s scheme will reportedly be announced this month and will be spearheaded by Lewisham mayor Damien Egan
Similar schemes have previously been tested by police and crime commissioners in Somerset, Durham and the West Midlands.
In April, thousands of marijuana fans flocked to Hyde Park to openly smoke cannabis as they celebrated ‘420 day’.
But Mr Khan’s plans could clash with the PM’s desire to get ‘very tough’ on drug users.
He said last month: ‘What we’re also saying is we’re not going to sit idly by when you have lifestyle users also using Class A drugs, and we’re going to be coming down tougher on them,’ he said.
‘We are looking at doing things to tackle those so-called lifestyle drug users who don’t think they are part of the problem. In the end, all the demand is helping to create the problem.
‘The 300,000 problem drugs users, you’ve got to deal with what is going on there, you’ve got to make sure they are given rehab, you’ve got to come down tough on the county lines gangs, but you’ve also got to think about what is happening with the demand, the economic advantage that is given to the gangs by the lifestyle users as well.’
Source: Daily Mail
