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Make Cannabis Legal, Says Indy On Sunday
Press Association Sunday 28 Sep 1997 campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis. In today's edition, the newspaper vows to continue its campaign "until the law is changed and possession of marijuana for personal use is no longer an offence" An article headlined "The time is right to decriminalise cannabis" says some 100 celebrities, politicians, business leaders and doctors, including Sir Paul McCartney and Richard Branson, have signed a petition supporting the move. Yet the campaign, launched on the eve of the Labour Party conference, was also condemned by anti-drugs campaigners, such as Paul Betts, father of teenage Ecstasy victim Leah Betts. Explaining the newspaper's reasons for the move, editor Rosie Boycott - who admitted having started smoking "pot" in 1968 but said she did so "hardly at all nowadays" - hit out at the "hypocrisy" of banning cannabis but keeping alcohol legal. Ms Boycott, who made the decision to launch the campaign back in June, says that as a "recovered alcoholic" she has "experienced the terrible consequences of booze&. She writes: "Alcohol is aggressive, cannabis is passive. No one to my knowledge has ever killed - or even hurt - another while stoned on cannabis. No one has ever been disfigured by a joint. "The truth is that most people have smoked at one point in their lives. They hold down jobs, bring up their families, run major companies, govern our country. They are not criminal." She also said that decriminalising cannabis would free police resources to deal with drug dealers and argued there was no evidence that smoking cannabis created the desire for harder drugs. The newspaper is calling for the Government, which is preparing to appoint a US-style "drugs czar" to coordinate the anti-drugs effort, to back the "lawful use of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes." Ms Boycott told PA News:"I think we can win this campaign. It may take a long time, but I believe we have right on our side. We need a more open debate about the whole drugs policy in this country. "We wouldn't do something like this simply for publicity - it is a responsible message that I believe passionately in." One of those backing the campaign is Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport East. He will ask the all-party Drugs Misuse Group, when it meets on November 5 at Westminster, to back new research to establish the virtues of cannabis use. Mr Flynn wrote in the newspaper: "Is the answer to get tough, to crack down on pushers and users? It's been done and failed. "America has had a 20-year war against drugs. The result? Drug use, drug crime are the worst they have ever been." Detective Chief Inspector Ron Clarke, a recently-retired member of the Greater Manchester Drugs Squad, added: "You could save an absolute fortune in police time and money at a stroke. "And that money could be better spent on health awareness and education programmes." Sir Paul said: "I support decriminalisation. People are smoking pot anyway and to make them into criminals is wrong."
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