Subj: Lords defy Straw over cannabis

Date: Feb 11, 1998

Source: The Guardian

Lords defy Straw over cannabis

By LUCY WARD, Political Correspondent

The House of Lords is to launch an inquiry into the case for
decriminalising cannabis, reigniting debate on the issue in the face
of pledges by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to retain the ban.

In a move underlining the continuing capacity of peers to embarrass
the Government, the respected Lords science and technology select
committee unveiled plans to examine the case for continuing to outlaw
cannabis for medical and recreational use.

Peers will take evidence from March until July and publish a report on
their findings in October. Lord Perry of Walton, chairman of the
sub-committee holding the inquiry, last night said he and fellow
members had an open mind on the issue. The committee would call for
factual scientific evidence and reject 'sociological prejudice'.

The decision to hold the inquiry, emerging the day after peers
inflicted a defeat on the Government over newspaper price wars,
underlines the willingness of the Lords to examine issues considered
too politically sensitive to be handled in the Commons. Committees of
peers are seen to have greater freedom to confront controversial
topics with less pressure to avoid embarrassing the Government than
their colleagues in the Commons.

Peers were influenced by a combination of increasing public debate on
the matter and by the findings of a report by the British Medical
Association which last autumn recommended the legalisation of
cannabis-based drugs for medicinal use.

The timing of the inquiry is particularly awkward for the Government
as it comes less than two months after Mr Straw's son William was
accused in a tabloid newspaper of selling cannabis to two undercover
reporters. Mr Straw stood by his son over the claims, but reiterated
his firm belief that the drug should remain illegal.

Pressure for a liberalisation of the law has been gathering momentum.
Labour campaigners led by the MP for Newport West, Paul Flynn, have
called for the setting up of a royal commission to look into the
question.

Last week, national figures published by the Home Office suggested
police in England and Wales are increasingly cautioning rather than
prosecuting those arrested for possessing cannabis.

Mr Flynn last night claimed the Lords inquiry reflected a shift in
public opinion in favour of decriminalisation. He said: "The Lords
will examine this issue objectively and with scientific expertise.
They will hear evidence sensibly, free from the prejudice and
ignorance that informs the national debate."

The decision to examine the case for decriminalising cannabis was
taken by the full science and technology select committee, which has
the power to decide its own areas of inquiry.

Lord Perry, a former professor of pharmacology and a fellow of the
Open University, last night said the committee would seek to examine
only the scientific arguments.

"Of course it is going to be tricky, but when you are talking about
scientific evidence you are talking about real evidence, not
sociological prejudice.

"I don't think there is any preconceived notion that we will come out
one way or the other. This was simply a thing that was thought to be
worthy of scientific study."

The Government has no obligation to take note of reports published by
House of Lords select committees, but in practice it will have to
acknowledge the findings of an independent and respected group of
peers.

A Home Office spokesman last night reinforced Mr Straw's tough line.