England embraces the U.S. take on Marijuana laws. Also sees them as a positive deterrent.

By: BBC Newsbeat - additional content by: Gere Iverson - MSTv

England wants to legalize Marijuana; and do so using a model much like their American cousins.
 
Great Briton's  National Black Police Association wants UK forces and the government to monitor US cannabis legalization.  This reaction follows Washington state decision in making sales of recreational marijuana legal to over-21s.

Campaigners and police in Seattle say they hope the legalization will mean fewer young black men and "people of interest" in the city are punished for minor drug offenses.

The Liberal Democrats will speak to US politicians and police as part of a review of drug policy around the world.

A public vote to legalize the use and possession of cannabis was passed in Washington State in November 2012.

Alison Holcomb is a lawyer who led the campaign for legalization.  She said: "We've not just changed policy in Washington State, we've blown open the debate nationally and internationally."

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Holcomb said the changes are about more than just allowing people to get high.

"Really this campaign has only minimally been about marijuana," she said. "It's about how we use the criminal laws.

"In Washington, a black person is three times as likely to be arrested and convicted of a marijuana offence than a white person despite the fact that whites actually use marijuana at a slightly higher rate."

The Seattle Police Department says arresting adults for possession of cannabis has been its lowest priority for the past decade. However, it hopes the changes will improve relations with young black men in the city.

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Nick Glynn is the Vice President of the National Black Police Association and also a police inspector with Leicestershire Police.

Glynn believes the UK could learn important lessons from monitoring how legalization works in cities like Seattle.

"We've had our current approach to drug laws for 20 years. If we can learn anything from the US I think we should to see whether we can get some better outcomes," he said.

"There about a million stop and searches carried out in England and Wales every year. Around half of those are focused on street possession of cannabis so there's a lot of time spent dealing with that very low level offense."

The Liberal Democrats in turn believe, "Drug policy should be based on evidence of what works, not guesswork or dogma."  This policy includes looking at what is happening in Washington State and Colorado,  also speaking to American politicians, police and campaigners about the impact of these changes."

The legalization in Washington means adults over the age of 21 will be able to carry up to an ounce of cannabis but they still won't be allowed to use it in public.

Medical marijuana was already legal in Washington State but it had no formal rules of its supply and distribution.

For the past few months authorities have been granting licenses to those wishing to grow and sell the drug.

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