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UK: Blair Throws Drugs Policy Into Chaos
Sunday Times
Sunday 15 Oct 2000 Website: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/ BLAIR THROWS DRUGS POLICY INTO CHAOS The government's drugs policy was in chaos this weekend after Tony Blair admitted he may not have his finger on the nation's pulse over parental attitudes towards cannabis. The prime minister said he might be "wrong" in believing that most parents shared his conviction that their children should not experiment with soft drugs. Blair's apparent prevarication brought immediate condemnation last night from politicians and police in the front line of the fight against drugs. His comments came before an informal European summit in Biarritz when he was asked by John Humphrys, on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, whether he would prefer his children to "get drunk" or have "the odd spliff". Blair replied: "I really would prefer my children to have nothing to do with drugs at all and I think most - maybe, I don't know, I am wrong in this and other parents feel differently - but that is how I feel." In the interview Blair insisted it was not "important" whether or not ministers or shadow ministers had used cannabis. "I think what is important is not what happened on some university campus years ago in respect of particular ministers or opposition spokesmen." Asked whether ministers were free to admit having taken cannabis, he said: "It is up to people to do what they want to do, but I think it is important we concentrate on the issue that I think will be of much greater interest to the public." Blair's apparent softer line on drugs infuriated the campaigner Paul Betts, whose young daughter Leah died after taking ecstasy. Betts accused Blair of making a mistake by softening his tone. "This is really unhelpful and it worries me," he said last night. "What on earth is the point in having a law which says a drug is banned if it becomes a matter for parental or user choice? "The majority of people I come across via our helpline or from visiting 200 schools each year are falling into trouble through cannabis - dropping out of college or suffering psychological side-effects. This idea of turning a blind eye is the last thing the PM ought to be doing." The political establishment has been rocked by the drugs issue since last week when seven shadow cabinet members admitted they had taken cannabis in the past. A further leading Tory, Tim Yeo, the agriculture spokesman, has since also admitted trying the drug. Yvette Cooper, the public health minister, said on Friday that she had taken cannabis at university. Mo Mowlam, the Cabinet Office minister, was previously the only government member to have admitted using cannabis in the past. Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, has called for cannabis to be decriminalised and for a royal commission to be set up on drugs policy. Last week the chief constable of Cumbria, Colin Phillips, said the decriminalisation of cannabis was inevitable and he would take no action if he saw someone smoking it at a party. Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative shadow home secretary, who caused a row inside her own party by calling for zero tolerance of cannabis users, including an automatic $100 fine for possession, said of Blair's comments: "He is all over the place. It is exactly the sort of wishy- washy statement which fits so well with the home secretary's policy of giving special early releases to 3,000 drug dealers." There was also criticism from Dave Rogers of the Metropolitan Police Federation: "This is sending a confusing message to officers. Cannabis remains illegal and as such possession is a breach of the law. "Even if you are just an occasional dinner-party user, you still buy from a dealer and that dealer feeds the system which also involves hard drugs and sale to children. "If Mr Blair wants the police to avoid such people, he'll have to change the law. Until then we need him to back us in enforcing the law as it stands." A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers suggested that any softening of the line on drugs would be unwelcome. "We do not believe there is any need to change the current legal framework. We are not persuaded of any need to change matters."
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