[Sativa]

Boris Johnson has made another high-profile gaffe by suggesting police are wasting their time by chasing cannabis smokers.

The Henley MP put himself at odds with the Tories' zero-tolerance stance on drugs when he was asked whether he supported diverting police away from tackling cannabis possession.

The front runner in the race to become the Conservative candidate for London mayor made it clear he did not favour decriminalisation, but said that he wanted the police to focus on more serious crimes.

He said: "I don't want the police wasting their time rifling through the sock drawers of every student in London in the hope of find a little rabbit dropping of cannabis.

"You know, I think it's a waste of their time."

The official Conservative position on cannabis is that it should be restored to the Class B drug category and that users should be routinely prosecuted.

In 2004 it was downgraded from a class B to a class C drug.

The maximum penalty for possession is two years. But users caught with a small amount of the drug have it confiscated and normally escape with a ticking off.

Mr Johnson's rivals to become mayor lost little time in seeking to exploit his deviation party policy after a television interview.

Victoria Borwick, who is campaigning on a pledge to introduce zero-tolerance policing to London, said: "I want the law enforced, without fear or favour."

Mr Johnson's admission is unlikely to damage his chances to become London mayor.

His popularity has continued to rise despite colourful personal life and number of controversial outbursts.

In 2004, he was ordered to visit Liverpool by former Conservative leader Michael Howard to apologise in person for a magazine article that criticised the city's grief following the murder of Ken Bigley in Iraq.

He said afterwards the humiliating experience had left him feeling like a "squeezed lemon".

Yesterday he defended his right to make blunders in public.

He said: "I reserve the right to make gaffes. I really do, I think it is a key thin in politics that people should be able to say what they think and to get into slight trouble from time to time."

But Mr Johnson's latest remarks on cannabis will be unwelcome in the office of party leader David Cameron, who narrowly avoided being expelled from Eton for smoking the drug.

The Prime Minister this year asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to reconsider the decision in 2004 to downgrade the drug from class B to class C.


News Mod: CoZmO - http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: Daily Mail (London, UK)
Author: Duncan Robertson
Contact: news@dailymail.co.uk
Copyright: 2007 Associated Newspapers Ltd
Website: The Daily Mail