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Portillo put on spot by Lilley cannabis plan
The Times
Saturday 07 Jul 2001 BY JAMES LANDALE, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT THE stance taken by Michael Portillo on soft drugs came under fresh scrutiny yesterday after one of his allies called for cannabis to be legalised. Peter Lilley, the former Tory Deputy Leader, said the drug should be sold with a health warning in small amounts to anyone over 18 from licensed outlets. Mr Lilley, the first senior Tory to call for a liberalisation of the drugs regime, worked closely with Mr Portillo in Government and is backing his bid for the leadership. His remarks set Mr Portillo's position in stark contrast to that shared by all his opponents in the race for the Tory crown. Michael Ancram, David Davis, Kenneth Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith all said this week that they opposed the legalisation of cannabis while accepting the need for a debate on the issue. Mr Portillo, speaking on BBC's Question Time on Thursday night, said he had not made up his mind on the issue. "He arguments on both sides are finely balanced, and I think they are complicated," he said. "But a Conservative Party that I led would certainly be happy to address those issues. We should be the party that is open to new thinking." Tory MPs said privately that this position allowed Mr Portillo to appeal to ordinary people by appearing radical on the issue without actually committing himself. They added, however, that he would have to make his position more clear during the election contest or risk alienating more traditional Tory members. Mr Lilley, in a pamphlet for the Social Market Foundation think tank, said the strict legalisation of cannabis would make it less of a so- called "gateway drug" to harder substances. He also suggested a Tory change of policy on the issue would help the party demonstrate its openness to new ideas. Ann Widdecombe, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that legalisation would encourage drug barons to push even more hard drugs. Kenneth Clarke, the former Home Secretary, said he was "not persuaded" of the benefits of legalisation. He told BBC News 24 "I have been to Amsterdam, where that is the policy, and to Kingston, Jamaica, where it is used by a large section of the population, and it is visible and obvious that an alternative, slightly druggy lifestyle is being lived in parts of those cities which I am not at all sure I want to see introduced to this country." David Davis, another leadership contender, repeated his opposition to legalisation but added: "Britain's law is clearly not working and we should have a debate about the issue." The Prime Minister's official spokesman said that the Government's opposition to the legalisation of cannabis remained unchanged. There is substantial support for the decriminalisation of cannabis within the Scottish Parliament. Theoretically, MSPs have the power to allow Amsterdam-style coffee houses north of the border. Margo MacDonald, the Scottish Nationalist MSP, yesterday resubmitted her motion calling for a review of cannabis use in Scotland. When she first tabled her motion in November 1999, it attracted support from 45 MSPs from all political parties.
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