I’ve just run my beady eye over a draft of the Criminal Justice Bill conveniently printed in The Times but since non-UK residents have to subscribe I will refrain from linking (in accordance with the recent directive handed down by the Samizdat-buro).
Casting my mind back a few months, I distinctly recall that warm, fuzzy feeling of exuberation that only comes when the scent of a victory (albeit minor) is in the air. The scent in question was the aroma of cannabis which, HMG magnanimously informed us, was going to be ‘downgraded’ from Class B drug to Class C drug. Thus, whilst it would remain theoretically illegal, police could no longer arrest anyone for being in possession of small amounts for personal use.
Well, it was minor but worthwhile advance. Or so we thought, because the good news is that HMG has proved good to its word and cannabis is, indeed, to be reclassified as a Class C drug. The bad news is that the new Criminal Justice Bill gives police the power to arrest anyone found in possession of Class C drugs.
In short, we’re back where we bloody well started.
David:
Exuberation? Is that a word?
I guess, in the words of Kenneth Wolstenholme, it is now. (Americans won’t get that – it’s a soccer reference.)
President Bush – consumerise your heart out.
Brian
Exuberation? Maybe ‘exuberance’? So I’ve just invented a new word. Sounded good though.
Not precisely back where we started. Now all the other class C drugs are arrestable too. So that’s a step *backward*.
Stop Bitching, at least your drug warriors have lost some of their blood lust. Here in the USA the drug warriors appetites have as yet to be sated. Future polititians will run on the statement, “A prison on every block!”
Notice how double jeopardy has been removed from 30 crimes rather then the few originally indicated.
Blunkett is not rebalancing the courts; he’s effectively undermined them. The long-term damage of this government is becoming all too apparent.
With the evisceration of the Tories, I see that the BNP has won in Blackburn.
Philip,
Yes, I heard about that BNP win in Lancashire late last night. Are they on their way to becoming Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition?
I cannot help but fear that the rise of the far right is likely to be a direct result of the current insanity by this government. That surely is the ultimate irony, since this government is surely the most authortarian and illiberal administration since the war. And at least Winnie had an excuse.
aaaargh!! i can’t believe they’ve done that. b**stards.
It’ll probably get explained as ‘otherwise we couldn’t arrest aggravated cannabis users’, whatever aggravated use consists of… and *hopefully* will only get used in such circumstances. For a start, even if the government are up for arresting all spliff smokers, I can’t see the police being any more enthusiastic about arresting cannabis users than they are now, let alone people with a small stash of magic mushrooms or whatever… but still! Gits! When can we abolish this stupid 2 party system of government that leaves no room for anything but lowest common denominator politics?
OK, what if, there got to be so many stupid laws that *everyone* just simply *was* illegal, from birth, more or less, and then the British People got sick of this and just dumped the whole legal system and started again from scratch?
Would that help the course of Libertarian progressivisation?
David,
You can now be arrested for possession of anabolic steroids, amphetamines designed for slimming purposes, Temazapam and Valium, so this can only be regarded as a step backwards. As visitors to my site know, I’m not in favor of drug legalization, but this extension of police powers is utterly ridiculous.
Iain,
As a regular (nay, devoted) reader of your blog, I am aware of your position.
I am glad that you agree this as a step backwards and it provides a timely illustration of the point that prohibitionist policies will always give governments the excuse to abuse our freedoms.
That is why I believe in the decriminalisation of all drugs.
Alice,
So what you’re saying is that it needs to get so bad and so oppressive that the people actually tear the system down?
If so, you’re probably right. After all, it is only events that change the world; arguments are useless
David,
No, I had in mind more that the law needs to get so pointless, silly, impossible to understand and generally irrelevant, that people will actually forget what it was for in the first place, think “what’s this useless rubbish getting in the way?” and chuck it in the dustbin.
I should probably own up and say rthat the source of my own comment was, of course, Englands Sword.
Referencing isn’t always a strong point at 7.00 in the morning.
Apologies, Iain.