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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Current laws are causing drugs scourge, campaigners tell MPs
The Guardian
Tuesday 06 Nov 2001 MPs heard today how heroin is a "benign drug" whose harm comes to users because of the substances black market dealers cut it with. Pro-drug reform campaigners told MPs that existing laws were the root of Britain's drugs scourge - and not the substances themselves. Five witnesses in favour of liberalising drug legislation were giving evidence to the all- party home affairs select committee, which is holding a lengthy inquiry into UK drug laws. Danny Kushlick, director of drug reform group Transform, said prohibition of all drugs should be swept away because the black market leads users to commit crime and take impure substances. The law should be changed to allow hard and soft drugs to be supplied either over the counter, by licensed retailers, by pharmacies or by prescription, he said. Guardian journalist Nick Davies, who has made documentaries and written extensively on the drugs issue, said: "The worst that can happen is that we would end up with a tiny sliver of the black market that we have now. "The main thing is to bring drugs into the mainstream where we can see them, and give people correct information on the side of packets, so they know what they are taking." Mr Davies added that heroin is a "benign drug" which is only dangerous because it is supplied by criminals who often adulterate it with other substances. "Heroin is very addictive but it does not damage the mind or body of its users," he said. The Home Office's stance of the harmfulness of heroin had recently changed significantly, said Mr Davies. He pointed out that latest evidence submitted to the committee by the government said "the adverse physical effects of heroin are limited". When people hear of the devastating effects heroin has on the body they are thinking of heroin supplied through the black market, he added. Mr Kushlick added: "Government policy is failing everywhere, with any indicator that you care to look at." The witnesses agreed that the re-classification of cannabis from class B to class C, announced by the home secretary, David Blunkett, last month, was a step in the right direction, but generally dismissed cannabis as a very small part of a bigger picture. The government needed courage to grapple with bigger problems like heroin and cocaine, they added. Conor McNicholas, of dance culture magazine Muzik, told the MPs that cannabis reclassification was the beginning of a "domino topple". Mr Kushlick suggested the next step should be to remove all criminal penalties for cannabis to legalise supply. But the core of all drug problems was the international treaties outlining how governments should deal with the substances, he added. The agreements which prohibit drugs across the globe needed to be revised, he said. Other witnesses were a board member of civil rights group Liberty, Roger Warren Evans, and Alun Buffry, of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.
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