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UK: Greens plan to go Dutch on drugs

This Is Lancaster

Saturday 19 May 2001

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THIS week Tory Steve Barclay announced that he has never touched it, John
Whitelegg is totally green on the issue but Labour's Hilton Dawson wouldn't
be drawn on the question... what are they on about? Well the thorny subject
of whether or not they had ever tried cannabis .

The Citizen decided to ask the three key Lancaster candidates if they had
ever sampled the 'herb' following Green party calls for the legalisation of
cannabis and a 'sensible' debate on drugs.

The Green's claim it would free up police time for more serious matters but
both the Labour and Conservative candidates were totally against a
legalisation policy saying it would send out the wrong message.

When asked if they had ever tried cannabis Steve Barclay said: "No, I've
never tried it," John Whitelegg added: "No, I hate smoking but if it was in
Morecambe rock I might be tempted," and Hilton Dawson laughed and said:
"You'll have to draw me on that one another time!"

Describing the current drugs laws as "out of date" the Greens said: "The
time is now right to legalise cannabis. There are currently 100,000 arrests
for cannabis possession each year. These people should not have criminal
records and should not be clogging up the courts. Many people find that
cannabis is helpful in relieving pain and reducing stress, yet they must
risk becoming criminals by using this natural herb."

They argue that we should learn from the experience of other countries
especially the Netherlands and Prof Whitelegg added: "Cannabis consumption
for personal use is not illegal in the Netherlands and yet only 29 per cent
of young people use this drug in that country. In the UK 41 per cent of
young people have used cannabis. Its time we got smart on drugs and
realised that our current policies are failing badly."

But both major parties we're sticking to the party line. Hilton Dawson
said: "I'm completely against legalisation, it sends out the wrong message
to young people. We should concentrate on education, drug rehabilitation
and cracking down hard on drug dealers."

Steve Barclay said: "I do not support calls for legalisation of cannabis
and believe that the war against drugs needs to be intensified by restoring
police and not letting prisoners out before they have served their sentence."

 

 

 

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