“Defying the weight of medical and scientific opinion, Gordon Brown is to order tougher new laws today on cannabis possession. The Prime Minister has decided to overrule his own expert advisers and reverse the downgrading four years ago of Britain’s favourite illegal drug from a class B to a class C substance, threatening cannabis smokers with five-year prison terms.”
The Independent, 7th May 2008
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Police will not toughen their approach to cannabis when ministers upgrade the legal status of the drug to class B, it has been disclosed.”
Daily Telegraph, 1st May 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Gordon Brown’s decision to overturn the advice of his own group of drug experts by pressing ahead with a tougher policy on cannabis could face a high court challenge from campaigners.”
The Guardian, 29th April 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A £100,000 cannabis-dealing trial, launched following a high-profile police raid on a Rastafarian temple in south London, has collapsed in legal confusion.”
The Guardian, 8th April 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Gordon Brown is preparing to overrule the advice of the Government’s drug advisory body and upgrade cannabis to a Class B drug, carrying tougher penalties for its possession.”
The Times, 4th April, 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Jack Straw has confirmed that drug courts, dedicated to tackling drug misuse and related crime, are to be extended to up to four more magistrates’ courts.”
Ministry of Justice, 1st April 2008
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“In December 2005, the then Department of Constitutional Affairs announced a commitment to pilot Dedicated Drug Courts as part of the government’s agenda to reduce drug-related crime.
Matrix Knowledge Group has produced an independent process evaluation of the pilots in England and Wales: Leeds Magistrates’ Court and West London Magistrates’ Court.”
Dedicated drug court pilots – a process report (PDF)
Ministry of Justice, 31st March 2008
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“Tens of thousands of people caught with a single joint of cannabis will get an unofficial criminal record that could blight their future employment prospects under new police proposals, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
“Persons convicted of being concerned in the large scale commercial cultivation or production of cannabis, could expect to receive sentences with a starting point of three years if they acted as a gardener, six to seven years if they acted as an organiser, three to seven years if they acted as a manager and higher sentences where they controlled a large number of such operations.”
The Times, 14th February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Prosecutors plan to apply this week to hold a major criminal trial without a jury for the first time. The step is being taken because of concerns that jurors assigned to the case – which involves members of an organised criminal network – would be vulnerable to intimidation or bribery.”
The Times, 11th February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Senior police officers are to tell government advisers that cannabis should be upgraded from a Class C to a more dangerous Class B drug.”
BBC News, 5th February 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Relaxation of the law on cannabis has fuelled organised crime in the UK, police chiefs will tell an inquiry panel this week.”
Daily Telegraph, 3rd February 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Cannabis is to be reclassified as a Class B drug after an official review this spring, The Times has learnt.”
The Times, 9th January 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Regina v Hawkes (Attorney-General’s Reference No 68 of 2007)
“Drug dealers who kept weapons with a view to using violence would, on conviction, have their sentences significantly increased to reflect that fact.”
The Times, 11th December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“The government was at loggerheads with its own advisers last night over its new drugs policy.”
The Observer,2nd December 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Three London councils have combined to set up the UK’s first Family Drug and Alcohol Court.”
BBC News, 26th November 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Police chiefs have come out in support of reclassifying cannabis as a Class B drug just three years after they supported the controversial Government decision to downgrade it legally to a less serious Class C substance.”
Daily Telegraph, 21st November 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Seymour v The Queen [2007] UKPC 59
“A person who had possession of controlled drugs in Bermuda with the intention of supplying them to another person outside the territory of Bermuda, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of Bermudan Courts, did not commit an offence under s 6(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1972 of Bermuda.”
WLR Daily, 5th November 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The government’s consultation on a new 10-year drugs strategy is a ‘sham’, according to one of Britain’s leading think-tanks on narcotics, which warns that the current policy is fuelling a crime epidemic.”
The Observer, 21st October 2007
Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk
Preparation of heroin syringe does not constitute manslaughter
House of Lords
“It was never appropriate to find someone guilty of manslaughter where that person had been involved in the supply of a class A controlled drug, which was then freely and voluntarily self-administered by a fully informed and responsible adult to whom it had been supplied, and the administration of the drug then caused his death.”
The Times, 19th October 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication
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