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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Drugs inquiry chairwoman blasts Government
Ananova Wednesday 10 Jan 2001 Dame Ruth Runciman has called for a cut in penalties for cannabis, ecstasy and LSD in the report of a Police Foundation inquiry she chaired last year. Ministers have yet to reply to her report - and Dame Ruth is repeating her warning that the Government can not afford ignore the debate over drugs. However, Mr Hellawell, who has been asked to examine the report, insists the law will not change. Dame Ruth, who is set to address a Joseph Rowntree Foundation conference on the issue, said: "Our drug laws need some review after 30 years to make them more accurate, more enforceable and fairer. "I don't see how in the end they (the Government) can avoid joining in what should be a common sense, undogmatic and constructive debate." Penalties have to be proportionate to the risk of the drug, she has told the BBC. Persistent offenders should end up with a criminal record but those caught with cannabis for personal use for the first time should just receive a caution. She says both ecstasy and LSD, which are less harmful than cocaine or heroin, should be down-graded from class A to class B drugs. But Mr Hellawell says that ministers rejected these findings when the report was published last year, and their stance has not changed. Tony Blair has repeated his view that he would examine the issue as a parent as well as premier, and does not think laws should change. Mr Hellawell said: "Certainly in relation to its principle recommendations of reclassifying the law in relation to cannabis and ecstasy, the Government is very firm and clear on that, and made its views known as soon as the report was published."
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