He pointed to the guidelines produced by the Association of Chief Police Officers Acpo which

He pointed to the guidelines produced by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), which say there should be a “presumption against arrest” for possessing cannabis.In practice, in a majority of cases, police officers will issue a warning and confiscate the drug “What is the warning to consist of?” he asked. “‘If we find you with cannabis in future, we will warn you again.’ What conceivable effect is that likely to have?”The Acpo guidelines say that arrest will be considered if a person is repeatedly found in possession of cannabis.”How are the police going to know whether there is repeated possession of the drug unless they keep detailed records of every time they warn somebody for possession?”If they are going to do that, how can it be claimed that this will give the police more time and resources to focus on Class A drugs? So there is absolutely no logic in the Government’s position.”The Tories have “thought very carefully” about which of the two realistic positions to adopt. It is an absolutely absurd state of affairs.”The practical consequences of the Government’s decision will be alarming, the Tory leader warned. The maximum for Class C drugs is at the moment five years – these include aspirin derivatives, anabolic steroids, for which you need some controls but are not substances which come into anything like the same category as cannabis.”In order to address some of the muddle which is a consequence of their proposals, the Government will increase the maximum sentence for possession with intent to supply these aspirin derivatives from five to 14 years It is Yes Minister gone mad. “The maximum sentence of imprisonment for possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply is 14 years. There are two perfectly arguable positions you can hold on the question of cannabis One is to say that it should be legalised.

There are arguments which I understand for that – about personal liberty and that it would cut links with dealers.”There are arguments for keeping it as it is now – everyone knows where they stand; it is a Class B drug; all the consequences of the criminal law are available and it sends a message that it is an activity which is against the law. It seems to me that there is absolutely no case for what is a massive muddle in the middle.”The muddle is perfectly illustrated, Mr Howard argued, by the Government’s decision to reclassify other drugs already in Class C by increasing the penalties for certain offences connected with their use. But don’t worry, we’re on our way to Brixton” – where there was an experiment with a “softly, softly” approach to the drug.
The incident returned to the Tory leader’s mind recently as he drew up his party’s policy on drugs, which he will unveil today. The confusing, patchwork approach to the law on drugs during the Lambeth project, he believes, will be writ nationwide next week when cannabis is reclassified from a Class B to a Class C drug.The former home secretary, who will announce that a future Tory government would reverse the change, is at pains to stress that his policy is not a knee-jerk reaction but an example of what he calls “grown-up politics”.In an interview with The Independent, he said: “This is not a simple argument about being hard on drugs or soft on drugs. When Michael Howard was stuck in traffic on Vauxhall Bridge in London last year, a car containing four people drew up alongside him One of them smiled: “Hello, Mr Howard We’re all smoking cannabis.

I hope they don’t just reach for the comfort blanket and say all we have to do is go back to the things that are tried and tested for the metropolitan media.”The interview, conducted a few days after he was ousted as Tory leader, breaks the traditional silence of former leaders. Mr Duncan Smith has kept a low profile at Westminster since losing the Tory leadership at the end of October.Friends of Mr Duncan Smith said yesterday that he was concentrating on work in his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency while Sir Philip Mawer, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, completes his investigation.One ally said: “He is in good form, but he can’t say anything until the inquiry is over He is out and about in his constituency.”. To that extent there will have to be some examination of that.”I don’t regret what I did, how I did it or why I did it one little bit I have challenged my party and that was right I hope others will now go on to pick up that challenge. I was able to establish the nature of the challenge, but I was not able to get my parliamentary party to embark on that journey.”He said: “To the very day I left, the voluntary party ironically understood what I was doing perhaps more than my parliamentary colleagues did.

Friends of Iain Duncan Smith insisted yesterday he was not bitter despite making an extraordinary attack on the failure of Conservative MPs to embrace his style of leadership.
They said the former Tory leader was waiting for the outcome of the inquiry by the parliamentary standards watchdog into his employment of his wife Betsy as his secretary, before re-entering the fray at Westminster.In an interview for a Roman Catholic journal published today, Mr Duncan Smith said trying to persuade his parliamentary colleagues to take up the cause of social justice was “like shining a pencil torch into a dark void”.He told the publication Briefing, the re-launched journal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales: “In terms of the parliamentary party the challenge was there. When there’s plenty of snow, the same company also runs daytime dog-sledding trips, from NKr1,190 (£100) per person, including lunch or dinner.. But the main attraction here is the Northern Lights, which tend to appear in bursts between 6pm and midnight. You can wander around town looking for a dark corner, but you might have more fun by booking an organised trip with Tromso Villmarkssenter.