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Widdecombe stands by zero tolerance drugs policy

Andrew Grice

This Is Essex

Monday 16 Oct 2000


Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe has snapped back at Tory
colleagues for "trivialising" her controversial zero-tolerance drugs
strategy.

She claimed admissions by fellow senior Tories that they experimented
with cannabis as students had overshadowed her wider policy aims.

"There is much more involved to drugs policy than just the whole issue
of whether a student experimented with soft drugs," said Ms
Widdecombe.

"I felt that the debate has moved away from what was important, which
was the policy we actually have today and what we do to tackle the
drugs menace today."

Ms Widdecombe was condemned by all sides for her zero-tolerance
announcement at the Conservative Party Conference, in which she called
for on the spot fines for possessing even the smallest amount of
cannabis. Tory leader William Hague was forced to distance himself
from the strategy and suggest that more consultation was required.

It was a snub for Ms Widdecombe, who now says the fixation on who in
politics had or had not smoked cannabis had weakened the public
debate. She admitted she was "saddened" by the confessions of her
colleagues and dismissed opponents' concerns that her policy would
lead to millions of people getting a criminal record for a minor
offence.

She told the BBC: "If you have a caution it still goes on your record.
It is not generally revealed but it still goes on your record and that
is exactly what would happen with a fixed penalty fine."

Her comments coincided with a survey suggesting that two-thirds of
people aged 25 to 34 believe cannabis to be no worse than cigarettes
or alcohol. Four out of five questioned for the Guardian/ICM poll
thought possession should be decriminalised but less than half called
for legalisation of cannabis.

 

 

 

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