Met chief: Give fixed penalties for cannabis

Britain's most senior police officer has called for fixed penalty fines for cannabis possession if the Government toughens the law on the drug.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said he wanted to see cannabis remain a Class C drug. He was commenting on a government-ordered review on whether the recent relaxation of the penalties for possession should be reversed.

Sir Ian said if cannabis was once again classified as a Class B drug he would urge the Government to bring in the fixed penalties to deal with the possession of small amounts, although he refused to speculate on the scale of the fines.

He said it was a waste of officers' time dealing with the possession of small amounts when the courts refused to take the offence seriously. Cannabis was downgraded to Class C in January last year. It means most adults caught in possession are warned and the drug is confiscated.