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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Letter: Theory On Drugs Is `Long Discredited'
Derek Williams Scotsman, Scotland
Saturday 24 May 1997 In your editorial (20 May) criticising the call from the Church of Scotland for the decriminalisation of cannabis, you say the "Kirk finds itself at odds with the new Government, which believes that pot smoking can lead to harder and more harmful drugs and should therefore be banned". This is not the case, as the Government does not claim that using cannabis leads to harder drugs: the "progression theory" has long been discredited. You go on to state that "there is no evidence that decriminalisation alleviates the drug problem". Again, that is simply not true. The experience in the Netherlands is precisely that; indeed, decriminalisation there has reduced hard drug abuse substantially. The point the Rev John Cowie was making at the General Assembly was that decriminalisation leaves the supply of drugs in the hands of criminals. Only full legalisation and the resulting control which could be applied would solve that aspect. There is no doubt that the Dutch experience has been very positive indeed. It must be remembered that cannabis is now part of our culture and has been for some time and to maintain this failed prohibition is a recipe for social tension and alienation. I support the Kirk in its call to decriminalise cannabis, a measure which is long overdue. Derek Williams, Pembroke Road, Norwich
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