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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Editorial: Balance On Cannabis
The Herald
Tuesday 23 Oct 2001 Major Barrier In Drugs War Has Been Removed The current official position on cannabis, particularly in relation to its use as a pain-killer by those with serious medical conditions, is unsustainable. That has been obvious for some time, although Tony Blair's determination in the summer that the law on cannabis should not be changed was undermined by the more realistic attitude of David Blunkett, his home secretary. At that time Mr Blunkett insisted that there should be an adult and intelligent debate on cannabis, while retaining severe doubts about any use of mind-altering substances. That was the sensible position and Mr Blunkett is now confident enough in what he has heard to propose, together with Jim Wallace in Scotland, what will effectively lead to the decriminalisation of the drug. Decriminalisation is denied, of course, for cannabis will remain illegal. That point is underlined by the fact that there will be no need for the Scottish Parliament to legislate. The change proposed is to drugs policy, which is a UK policy, rather than to the national legal systems. But the re-classification of the drug, which is what Mr Blunkett and Mr Wallace propose, will lead in effect to a situation where those who use small quantities of cannabis recreationally are unlikely to face any legal sanctions. There will be mixed feelings about this decision. That cannabis is harmful if taken over a lengthy period is undeniable. It is true that society's most popular drug of choice, which is alcohol, does far greater damage than cannabis. But that is not of itself a good enough argument for softening the restrictions on any other mind-altering drug. There are also fears that cannabis can be a "gateway" drug, exposing its users to the danger of progression to harder and much nastier drugs such as heroin and cocaine. There is no clear advice on this issue as yet. Some research from New Zealand suggests that cannabis does lead to the taking of harder drugs by some young people. Other work disputes this and points to the effect of different social elements in that dangerous progression. Whatever the truth (and more research must continue to be undertaken on that issue), it is still a reasonable argument to doubt the wisdom of taking any drug, be it "soft" or "hard". Yet it is clear that a drugs policy which is to stand any chance of working must have credibility with the public at large. Drug-taking remains a serious issue in Britain. To that extent, official policy on drugs has failed. The lumping together of cannabis with the more dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine merely devalued the anti-drugs message. Young people knew perfectly well which drugs were the more dangerous and rightly regarded their equation in the eyes of the law as ridiculous. Although the police are also likely to have some doubts about a relaxing of procedures against cannabis, they should welcome a re-focusing of the war against other drugs. In England and Wales, nearly seven out of 10 drugs arrests involve cannabis. It will be good to see police resources freed from the pursuit of a relatively harmless drug if their activities are successfully targeted on highly dangerous substances. The greatest relief will be felt by those suffering medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, who use cannabis to relieve pain and muscle spasms. The evidence for its medical efficacy is mounting and will likely be sanctioned officially with the provision of new cannabis-based drugs by 2004. There should be no need, now, for the homes of sufferers to be raided by police. On balance, Mr Blunkett's proposals are sensible and mature. Any changes must be monitored, but a major barrier in the fight against hard drugs has now been removed.
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