UK: Cannabis decriminalised within five years, says MP

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Ananova

Thursday 19 Jul 2001

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Cannabis will be decriminalised by the end of this Parliament, believes a
Labour member of the influential House of Commons Home Affairs Select
Committee.

David Winnick's comments come as a BBC survey showed that at least 81
Labour backbenchers would be prepared to vote for decriminalisation if it
was recommended by a Royal Commission

Thirty one said they would oppose it.

Even some ministers are in favour of relaxation of the law on the drug,
claimed backbencher Jon Owen Jones, who yesterday tabled a Private Member's
Bill in the Commons calling for legalisation.

Some 95 backbenchers told BBC radio that they would support a Royal
Commission inquiry into the decriminalisation of the use and supply of
cannabis - more than four-fifths of the 116 Labour MPs who responded to the
survey.

And 32 said that they would vote for decriminalisation without an inquiry,
with an additional 45 backing it if the inquiry found in favour and four
only if supply was restricted to prescriptions by doctors. However, a
majority of the 234 MPs approached - 118 - refused to reveal their thoughts
on the subject, even anonymously.

Mr Jones, a former Welsh Office minister, welcomed the survey's findings,
telling the programme: "I think there are a number of ministers who
privately recognise that the policies of the Government are not working and
need a radical overhaul."

Dame Ruth Runciman, whose report for the Police Foundation last year called
for cannabis to be downgraded to Class C status, said the survey results
reflected "considerable unease" about the UK's drug laws.

Decriminalisation would not require complex legislation and could be
introduced by the time of the next General Election in 2005 or 2006, she said.

In a statement, the Home Office said: "The Government has a comprehensive
and challenging 10-year national drugs strategy to tackle all aspects of
the drug problem in this country."

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