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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Sco: OPED: Joint opinion Ken Laird, Editor The Big Issue in Scotland (UK) Thursday 21 Oct 1999 Date: 21-27 Oct, 1999. Issue 244 Source: The Big Issue in Scotland (UK) Joint opinion Support is growing for the legalisation of cannabis, but why do our MSPs not act? By Ken Laird, Editor David Rendell has cancer of the lymph glands. Jonathan Wilson has stomach cancer. Elizabeth Ivol, Bill Reeve and Claire Hodges have multiple sclerosis. They use cannabis to gel relief from pain. A smoke or some hash mixed in food gives them much-needed relief without the nauseating side effects of prescribed drugs. They are harming no one and improving the quality of their difficult daily lives, yet, disgracefully, their use of cannabis makes them criminals in the eyes of the law. This ludicrous state of affairs exists because of the demonising of all drugs by this Government and its immediate predecessors. Current drug laws were enacted in 1971, but since then there has been a huge shift in social behaviour and attitudes. Research studies have established that young people who use drugs currently classed as illegal, are outgoing sociable and in total control of their recreational use. No one has died from a cannabis overdose. The police will tell you - off the record - that there is much less likelihood of trouble at events where soft drugs are being taken instead of alcohol. Every weekend in the towns and cities of Britain the catalyst for most arrests is alcohol, yet this drug remains legal and freely available. Despite 10,000 people in Britain regularly using cannabis to relieve pain and three in five GPs saying it should be available for therapeutic purposes, UK doctors cannot legally prescribe cannabis, a Class B drug, to relieve pain. They can prescribe Class A drugs such as morphine and heroin. Similarly cigarettes, which manufacturers admitted for the first time last week cause cancer and other terminal illnesses, can be bought over the counter and smoked legally. Clearly the current laws are too blunt and unsophisticated - it is time for our politicians to start taking the subject seriously. The 'Just Say No' campaigns have failed miserably and the glib 'war on all drugs' line of the tabloid press is futile. Many of our MSPs have made a start in these pages by standing up to be counted in the first comprehensive survey of their attitudes towards the laws on cannabis. We thank and congratulate those who took the time and trouble to vote. We we're disappointed. however, that 34 made no attempt to answer us while 12 abstained. It is depressing that out elected representatives are not able te show more of a lead on such a big issue. Perhaps an independent national commission due to report in the new year will help concentrate minds. It has been examining current procedures and their legal framework for two years, pulling together experts from the law, medicine, social welfare, criminology, moral philosophy and the media. In the meantime, those MSPs unable to form an opinion would do well to read the testimonies of David, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Bill and Claire in the preceding pages and talk to their constituents. At The Big Issue in Scotland, we favour a close scrutiny of current legislation with honest and vigorous debate which examines all the practical aspects of this complex issue. All responses will be forwarded to Margo MacDonald, the Nationalist MSP who has called for a commission of experts and lay people to examine this contentious subject. It's time to move the debate forward and turn words into action. Sidebar 'Quote... ...unquote' "It's better we debate this subject openly and honestly, rather than have some policy being implemented by stealth by the Crown Office." Jim Wallace. Scotland's Deputy First Minister, on cannabis. "The way we operate nowadays, it's rare to report someone to the fiscal for a small amount of cannabis for personal use." One of the country's leading police officers, speaking on condition of anonymity about the force's attitude to cannabis. "Our policy on cannabis is unaltered from the previous Government's. We have no intention at legal ising the drug." Sam Galbraith, then Scottish health minister, last year on Labour's attitude to cannabis. "This will have been a profound experience for him. I feel we will see a more sensitive Home Secretary. There should be a new humility from politicians of all parties about lecturing parents on how to bring up their children." Labour MP Paul Flynn, speaking last year after Jack Straw's son William was cautioned for selling cannabis to an undercover reporter. "William is learning the lessons of this episode and has my support I'm grateful for the restraint shown towards him." Jack Straw's comments in the aftermath of the cannabis sting by The Mirror "It's no good politicians standing up and saying, 'We're against drugs. Full Stop.' There are quite strong arguments against the popular view that soft drugs lead to hard drugs. It's like saying drinking lager leads to alcoholism." Sir David Steel, now the Scottish Parliament's Presiding Officer, speaking in 1996 after his son Graeme was released from a nine-month jail sentence for cultivating cannabis with an estimated value of UKP30,000.
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