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Ministers warned against 'cherry-picking' drug report's proposals
Ananova Saturday 30 Dec 2000 Source: Ananova Last updated: 10:04 Saturday 30th December 2000 Ministers have been warned against "cherry-picking" proposals from a controversial report aimed at tackling Britain's drug problems. The Runciman report calling for the reclassification of certain drugs was widely welcomed when it was published nine months ago. But Home Secretary Jack Straw swiftly ruled out the report's recommendation that penalties for using cannabis should be abolished. The Government has still not officially responded to the plan, drawn up by Dame Ruth Runciman's team. British politicians - unlike many of their European counterparts - were "scared" of the issue, Dame Ruth told the BBC. "I do not see how they can avoid answering it altogether," she said. "However, what one hopes is what they will not do is to cherry-pick among our 81 recommendations which do, in fact, form a consistent and coherent whole." Decriminalisation of cannabis was the "basis" of a plan which would allow the problems of more serious drugs to be tackled, Dame Ruth said. Punishing people for using cannabis did not deter them anywhere near as much as setting out the health implications, she said. The "most dangerous message of all" was that all drugs were equally damaging, she said, adding: "Nothing in our report suggests cannabis is a harmless drug. What it is, is much less harmful than the most harmful drugs and, equally, that is true about ecstasy." Francis Wilkinson, former chief constable of Gwent, said ministers should go further than the report's proposals and legalise cannabis. "Cannabis should be legalised otherwise the effect is to encourage the violent and illegal drug trade," he told the BBC. "Cannabis is less harmful, certainly than alcohol, and has similar health effects to tobacco - it would be a balanced approach to sell it through off-licenses, in a similar way to the way those two drugs are sold." Last updated: 10:04 Saturday 30th December 2000
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