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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Police fear new ruling will let drug dealers slip through net [SCT]
#5307572 - 02/16/06 03:49 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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Police fear new ruling will let drug dealers slip through net February 16, 2006 - scotsman.com
POLICE warned today that drug dealers could "slip through the net" under government plans to define the amount of drugs that should be considered as being for personal use.
Senior drug squad officers in Scotland today criticised the levels set in a new Home Office consultation paper saying they were too high and "unrealistic".
The paper aims to set a consistent level which defines the difference between someone possessing drugs for personal use and a dealer.
At the moment, being caught with a quantity of drugs deemed to be for personal use will usually result in a fine, but dealing leads to almost certain imprisonment.
The Home Office document proposes defining the limit on the quantity of heroin that can be for personal use as seven grams.
But drugs officers said this would provide enough heroin for 70 street deals, and they want the limit set at two grams.
Detective Sergeant Kenny Simpson, of Strathclyde Police's drugs unit, said: "The Home Office consultation document suggests seven grams is a level which might be for someone's personal use.
"But our position is clearly that this is far in excess of what someone would normally have for their own use.
"My position right now is that if you were found with this on your possession we would be looking at you as a drug dealer as opposed to someone who was taking it for their own use."
There is also concern about the Home Office proposals on limits for personal use of cannabis, which are double those that are recommended by police in Scotland.
The consultation document suggests 125g (4.4oz) of cannabis resin - the size of about half a chocolate bar - is acceptable for personal use.
But Scottish police chiefs believe that is much too high and a more realistic level is about 60g (2.1oz).
Graeme Pearson, director of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency, said: "It's a report which is trying to achieve consistency across the country but it sets levels which are too high."
He added: "We would seek to lower the levels in order to ensure that those who would deal on the streets can't operate just under the levels set in the report and therefore outwith the ability of the courts to deal with them adequately."
Stewart Stevenson MSP, justice spokesman for the SNP, warned that drug dealers would be let off the hook if the guidelines became official.
"These guidelines would quite clearly let far too many people slip through the net when they are clearly dealing," he said.
"It would create a very vigorous industry whereby people work out how to bypass those guidelines."
However, the Home Office, whose consultation ends in early March, said that there was no risk of "going soft" on drug dealers.
"It's a consultation and we are seeking views and will consider any representation very, very carefully," said a spokeswoman.
"The levels aren't set in stone and ultimately Parliament will decide what they should be."
The spokeswoman added: "There's no question of going soft on drug dealers."
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RemainRandom50
Do You Need ToKnow Me?
Registered: 01/15/06
Posts: 1,695
Last seen: 14 years, 11 months
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Re: Police fear new ruling will let drug dealers slip through net [SCT] [Re: veggie]
#5307902 - 02/16/06 05:24 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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sounds serious.
-------------------- At times I get consumed by my everyday life and will leave the Shroomery. Yet, every time drugs come falling into my life for fun.....I always think about the Shroomery and then I'm back!
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Koala Koolio
TTAGGGTTAGGGTTAGGGTTAGGG
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 7,752
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Re: Police fear new ruling will let drug dealers slip through net [SCT] [Re: RemainRandom50]
#5308562 - 02/16/06 08:22 PM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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It's such bullshit. "No one could possibly want anything to do with 4 oz of pot if they weren't selling it." Heh. Like potheads can afford to buy each gram individually? I think another thing this would favor is the less you can carry, the more often you have to buy, and the more of a chance they have to bust you. Stock up, and their chances go down.
There should be rough guidelines perhaps. But everything should be judged on a case by case basis. 60g should be the limit for personal use? (higher than many states here) Okay. So a guy with 70 grams laying around in a drawer with a bong should go to jail, while a guy with 30 grams individually bagged with a scale should get off with possession? Lets not try to limit the use of our brains in these dilemmas, since you simply *insist* on having them to begin with.
-------------------- You're not like the others. You like the same things I do. Wax paper, boiled football leather... dog breath. We're not hitch-hiking anymore, we're riding!
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Police fear new ruling will let drug dealers slip through net [SCT] [Re: Koala Koolio]
#5309508 - 02/17/06 04:30 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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> There should be rough guidelines perhaps.
There are... innocent until proven guilty... until they police can show that my twenty pound stash is being sold, they should have to assume it is for personal use... period.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Koala Koolio
TTAGGGTTAGGGTTAGGGTTAGGG
Registered: 01/07/04
Posts: 7,752
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Re: Police fear new ruling will let drug dealers slip through net [SCT] [Re: Seuss]
#5309858 - 02/17/06 09:26 AM (18 years, 1 month ago) |
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Indeed. This is especially important with some of the things people around here like. Things that one would have more use in stocking up on, and wouldn't have the freshness issues that bud would have over 5 years time or longer.
-------------------- You're not like the others. You like the same things I do. Wax paper, boiled football leather... dog breath. We're not hitch-hiking anymore, we're riding!
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