Real Time gives people a chance to tell their own stories in their own words. If you've got something to say, click here.
Some of your comments so far:
I am 15 years old and I am so angry at what is going on in Lambeth. You can't expect to just downgrade cannabis, it's making things easier for other dealers. The majority of teenagers accept cannabis as just another social drug, like alcohol. This is why it should be legalised, before a whole bunch of teenagers start getting onto heavier drugs because these are thrown in our faces on the streets, when we only want to get hold of a bit of dope.
Craig, England
The people that come to Lambeth for cannabis are very different to the crack dealers, addicts and pimps behind the current rise in often violent crime. We had a crack house on the road I used to live on. That was shut down, but there are now three more and residents are often too scared to go outside as the dealers openly prowl the street. Brixton is a wonderful community so lets not make things worse by missing the real issue.
Sophie, UK
This is the problem of trying to do this as a pilot in such a small area: you get an influx from areas where the laws are more strictly enforced. Presumably we will now be told that this policy has failed, and real discussion of the drug laws will yet again be waved off.
John, UK
Why do we talk about the legalities when we should really be talking about attitude to drugs and the unknown dangers of them? Come on, we are endorsing a nation to start frying its brains.
Jason Christie, UK
Giving warnings then confiscating cannabis frees up the police to concentrate on serious issues like crack dealing and robbery. A few more drug tourists buying (mainly bogus drugs) is a small price to pay for better policing.
Christian Evans, England
I've lived in Brixton since the late '80s when it was a more dangerous and rundown area. People have always hassled passers-by to sell them dope (more likely oregano) and there has been no discernable increase since the softly softly approach on cannabis. I'd rather put up with a few misinformed dope tourists than a greater incidence of crack dealing, which would be the effect of returning to the waste in police resources represented by targeting a few harmless potheads.
Ade, UK
Selling drugs to "a few harmless potheads" is innocuous enough. But there are two forms of crime that always accompany it: competition between those selling it, which leads to violent "turf wars"; and the thieving that SOME of the user community undertake to fund their habit.
Tony Armour, UK
I was brought up in the Easterhouse during the late 70s and early 80s when heroin was rampant. Mothers tried all they could to help their kids, but had minimal support from the government or police. These days there is so much information to help you tackle the problem. I'm not sure if today's government is on the right track with the softly softly approach. But I am sure that we should shift our focus to crack cocaine - how many pot-heads do you know with a gun?
David Watson, Scotland
I don't think the relaxed approach to cannabis has been implemented the right way. Coldharbour Lane and Loughborough Junction attract more dodgy characters and I feel uncomfortable walking around there. The changes should have been more drastic, regulating the sale of cannabis through licensed shops so dealers with other drugs to sell are not attracted to the area.
Yolanda, UK
I used to think that the UK should decriminalise cannabis, but now I have changed my mind. There are parts of Amsterdam where you can't walk down the street without people hassling you to buy crack/coke/E/whatever. The only sensible way forward is to legalise it, to have it regulated and taxed by the government and sold in shops, thereby taking the dealers of other substances out of the cannabis market.
Phil, UK
These things take time to show their real effects - the relaxing of laws in Holland, coupled with real education about drugs, has led from the average age of a heroin addict [rising] from 14 to the age of 40.
Brixton Harry, UK
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