Law chiefs want to target the drug barons instead of the couriers who risk their lives often without realising the danger they put themselves in.
The standard sentence for drug smuggling will fall from eight years to six-and-a-half, under the latest legal guidelines from the Sentencing Council.
At the same time tougher penalties will be brought in to deal with the giant cannabis farms which produce much of the Class B drug that is sold on the streets – often in residential homes.
Up to 300 more criminals involved in the illegal business are expected to end up behind bars every year under the changes.
Council chairman Lord Justice Leveson said it was right to go easy on “naive or vulnerable” drug mules, who are often forced into acting as couriers through threats or the promise of easy cash.
The peer said: “We believe that in the main these people – mainly women – are persuaded or coerced into acting as couriers for very little reward, with very little idea of the risks.
“Therefore we reduce the sentences on those but absolutely not at the expense of those responsible fororganising importation – the so-called drugs barons.
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