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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis Law Could Soften, Says Mowlam
Daily Telegraph
Monday 06 Nov 2000 Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Author: George Jones, Political Editor CANNABIS LAW COULD SOFTEN, SAYS MOWLAM Mo Mowlam, the Cabinet Office Minister, hinted yesterday that the Government might consider decriminalising cannabis if research showed that it did not lead to hard drugs. She said long-term alcohol abuse had much worse effects than cannabis use over a similar period. Dr Mowlam, who is in charge of Government drug policy, suggested that Labour was prepared to consider relaxation of the law if scientific evidence showed that it was not harmful or addictive. But she made clear that there was no change in Labour's 10-year drugs strategy, which recognised that heroin and cocaine were the most dangerous drugs. At present, cannabis remained illegal and its use was not condoned by the Government. Any changes in the law would be based on scientific evidence. The suggestion that one whiff of "whacky baccy" ended in heroin addiction had always been an overstatement. It could be that drug pushers persuaded cannabis users to try heroin, she told BBC Television's On the Record programme. Dr Mowlam's remarks came days after her Cabinet Office colleague Ian McCartney - whose son Hugh died of a heroin overdose aged 23 last year - called for a "new realism" on drugs. Mr McCartney's admission that the Government's "Just Say No" campaign had not worked was interpreted by some observers as a sign that Labour was preparing to soften its stance on cannabis before the second annual report tomorrow from Keith Hellawell, the Government's anti-drugs co- ordinator. Dr Mowlam also let slip her belief that Tony Blair will call a general election next spring. The widespread belief at Westminster is that it will be held in May.
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