Weed fears

Should London decriminalise cannabis, like New York?

- Esther Addley

The last time that London dabbled in decriminalising cannabis, it brought one part of the capital to a brief but giddy high. In 2001, an enterprising Scotland Yard borough commander empowered his officers in Lambeth to caution rather than arrest those carrying small amounts of the drug for personal use - freeing them, according to the scheme's proponents, to concentrate on more serious crimes.

The softly-softly approach was controversial in some political and policing quarters, but wildly popular in the borough - and some of its results were dramatic. Over six months, more than 2,500 hours of police officers' time were saved on processing cannabis arrests, while arrests for dealing class A drugs rose by almost a fifth.

Non-drug crime fell by 9% overall, with sharp declines in burglaries and street robberies. Almost two-thirds thought it had improved relations between the police and the community.

The Lambeth experiment would end after a year, however, after the man behind it, Brian Paddick, was transferred following newspaper allegations about his private life (which were later acknowledged to be false).

Lambeth's locals may have been dismayed, organising public meetings and petitions to call for Paddick's reinstatement ("He's not a very naughty boy, he's the Messiah," read one poster), but Metropolitan police plans to introduce the measures across the capital were quietly shelved.

Almost a quarter of a century on, could decriminalisation be back on the cards for London? Sadiq Khan this week signalled his support, after an independent commission into cannabis regulation, promised by the mayor in his 2021 election manifesto, published its findings. Classifying cannabis as a Class B drug was disproportionate to its harms, it said, and the sanctions users are currently subject to for personal possession "cannot be justified".