Children caught smoking cannabis will no longer automatically be arrested by police, it was revealed.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has also introduced a "three strikes and you're out" policy for cannabis users, which was originally ruled out before the drug was downgraded from Class B to Class C three years ago.
The new guidelines quietly replaced Acpo's previous policy that dope-smoking children should be arrested and taken to the police station.
The guidelines said officers should find "less intrusive" ways of dealing with under-18s, such as escorting them home.
"There is no longer a recommendation that... young people must be arrested," the Acpo document said.
If officers did feel it was necessary to arrest a child they would have to justify their decision, the paper added.
The new guidelines mark a significant watering down of the policy which was introduced when the Home Office reclassified cannabis in 2004.
The Acpo paper said adults found with a small amount of dope should be given a "cannabis warning" which does not count as a criminal record.
But it added: "These guidelines do not encourage the same offender being repeatedly warned for possession of cannabis. Where it can be verified that an offender has received two previous cannabis warnings then a further warning should not be considered."
Officers should consider arresting and prosecuting the user on the third occasion, it went on. A similar "three strikes" policy was originally proposed by Acpo in September 2002 but the proposal was scrapped three months later.
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