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UK: Cannabis users 'switching from Labour'

Ananova

Monday 21 May 2001

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Labour could lose half a million votes from cannabis users who feel let
down by the party's first four years in power.

A survey by the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit suggests Labour was
supported by 29% of cannabis users in 1997, but the figure has slipped to 17%.

This represents a more than 40% slide in support among people who use the
Class B drug, says the IDMU.

The Conservatives started from a "very low base" of 2.9% among drug users
in the last election and have slipped a further 0.5% since then, it added.

IDMU researchers said the study of 5,677 regular users showed 2.6% had
switched allegiance to the Liberal Democrats but the majority (23%) had
moved to support the Green Party.

The IDMU report says: "The haemorrhaging of Labour support, maybe half a
million votes across the UK, probably reflects the strong anti-drugs and
anti-cannabis stance taken by the current government since the 1997 election."

Researchers extrapolated the suggested half a million lost votes from the
Home Office's British Crime Survey estimate that more than two million
people in the UK regularly use cannabis, and other surveys which suggest
the true figure could be three million.

But they concede that the study, conducted over three years by handing out
questionnaires at rock music festivals and other events, may not form a
representative sample of cannabis users.

Some of the festivals where people were recruited to take part were
organised by the Green Party and in some cases questionnaires were handed
out by Green Party activists.

"The increase in Green support may be illusory, reflecting a lack of
candidates in the General Election, and tactical voting to oust the
Conservatives," says the report.

People surveyed included some too young to vote, it added.

 

 

 

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