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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Pressure grows to decriminalise Jon Hibbs Political Editor, (Jhibbs@scotsman.com) The Scotsman Monday 09 Jul 2001 THE government took a significant step towards softening its hostility towards reforming the drugs laws yesterday when David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, called for a mature debate to take place on legalising cannabis. Without committing himself to making any changes, Mr Blunkett's willingness to consider the arguments for decriminalisation represented a sharp contrast with the implacable opposition expressed by his predecessor, Jack Straw. Mr Blunkett said: "There is room for an adult intelligent debate but it isn't 'Are you for or against?' It's 'Let's think, let's consider, let's not be pushed by articles in newspapers or hysteria'. I am interested in the debate taking place because, I hope, I am an intelligent human being. "I have no intention of making a change in government policy out of the blue and if I have anything further to say I will do so in a considered fashion in my own time." Downing Street immediately denied that ministers were planning any relaxation in the law against the possession of cannabis. Nevertheless, the shift in tone gave fresh hope to campaigners for liberalisation following the call last week from a senior Conservative, Peter Lilley, for cannabis to be sold legally to adults in licensed outlets. It came as the law on possession faces its most serious challenge in the courts today when the civil rights group, Liberty, argues the law is incompatible with the Human Rights Act. Lawyers for Jerry Ham, 33, a charity director, will argue at Southwark Crown Court that his arrest in London last year with 1.8 grams of the drug was a breach of Article 8 of the Act, which enshrines the right to respect for private and family life. And only last week Mr Blunkett gave his blessing to an experiment by police in Brixton, south London, abandoning the prosecution of people found in possession of small amounts in favour of issuing a warning. The Home Secretary is anxious to see the outcome of this trial before pronouncing on the subject, and is also awaiting a separate government study on whether to sanction cannabis for medical use. At the same time ministers have been telling law enforcement officers, including Customs officials and police, to target their efforts on reducing the supply of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Meanwhile, two former home secretaries, the Liberal Democrat Lord Jenkins of Hillhead and the Conservative Lord Baker of Dorking, indicated they supported law changes which would mean possession of soft drugs was not an arrestable offence. They backed the recommendation last year of an independent commission chaired by Lady Runciman, which proposed reclassifying cannabis in a new category of class C drugs, whose possession for personal use would not go down on a criminal record. Pressure for drug-taking to be decriminalised also came from Sir David Rambotham, the outgoing chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, who said his experience of the jail system had convinced him for the need to tackle the drug trade as a major cause of crime. "The more I think about it and the more I look at what's happening, the more I can see the logic of legalising drugs," said Sir David in a BBC interview to be broadcast tonight. Mr Lilley, the former Tory deputy leader, welcomed Mr Blunkett's intervention as a step towards ending Labour's confusion over drugs: "The government's been all over the place. Tony Blair says he has to protect children, but it doesn't apply in Lambeth where black children can be exposed to these drugs." Despite the growing pressure for reform, ministers are wary of moving too quickly on what they regard as an issue of more concern to the "chattering classes" than ordinary voters. An opinion poll yesterday, by NOP survey for the Independent on Sunday, showed a narrow majority of the public remained opposed to legalising cannabis, although the proportion had fallen from 66 per cent to 51 per cent over the last five years. Mr Blunkett insisted the government must continue to warn that all drugs were harmful and should be avoided.
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