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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Pressure groups welcome Lilley's legalise cannabis call
Ananova
Friday 06 Jul 2001 Drug pressure groups have welcomed a call to legalise cannabis by former Conservative Party deputy leader Peter Lilley. Mr Lilley, writing in the Daily Telegraph, urges Tory leadership contenders to think urgently about liberalising the laws on cannabis. His comments were welcomed by drugs charity Release, which said a change in cannabis laws was long overdue. Mr Lilley argued, in a move likely to shock many Tory traditionalists, that one of the biggest handicaps the Conservatives faced during the General Election was the perception that their policies were negative and punitive. "On crime and asylum-seekers as well as drugs, Conservatism seemed to be about locking people up," he wrote. "It ought to be about setting people free. Nothing could more vividly dramatise reaffirmation of our belief in freedom and personal responsibility than to move clearly in favour of liberalising the law on cannabis." The Social Market Foundation thinktank is publishing a pamphlet by Mr Lilley in which he argues the law on cannabis use is unenforceable and indefensible in a country in which alcohol and nicotine are legal. He envisages that magistrates could issue licences for outlets selling cannabis to over-18s. Mike Goodman, director of the drugs charity Release, welcomed Mr Lilley's comments, saying: "The debate in relation to cannabis has really come on leaps and bounds in the last few months. "We're now having a much more sophisticated discussion and it's good that it is coming through leading politicians. The law on cannabis is long overdue for reform." A Home Office spokesman said the Government's policy has not changed.
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