Subj: Straw rejects review of laws on cannabis as new MPs own up

Date: Mar 16, 1998

Source: The Scotsman

Straw rejects review of laws on cannabis as new MPs own up

Gavin Cordon

The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, ruled out a Royal commission
to review drug laws after one in five new MPs who responded
to a survey admitted they had smoked cannabis.

Campaigners for decriminilisation of the drug were given a
further boost when a Tory MP, David Prior, said he had used
it when he was in his 20s and admitted: "Yes, I did inhale".

The survey, carried out anonymously by LWT's 'Jonathan
Dimbleby' programme, found that two-thirds of the 1997
intake who responded to a questionnaire believed there
should be an inquiry by a Royal commission.

But that was firmly rejected by Mr Straw, who warned there
could be an explosion in drug use if the laws were relaxed.

"Governments set up Royal commissions when they are
uncertain what to do about something. We are not uncertain
about this," he told Radio 4's 'The World this Weekend'.

However Mr Prior, who is believed to be the first
Conservative MP to have admitted publicly to smoking
cannabis, said the law was "hypocritical and dishonest" and
should be reformed.

Writing in the 'Independent on Sunday', which has been
campaigning for reform, the MP for North Norfolk, who is the
son of the former cabinet minister Lord Prior, said the law
was inconsistently enforced and widely ignored.

"I associate my experience with drugs [soft ones] not with
Mick Jagger or Aldous Huxley but with passing my law degree
and working in a bank," he said. "You can wear a pinstripe
suit and be utterly conventional and still roll a joint. And
yes, I did inhale. But that was a long time ago. I stopped
some time in my late 20s and took up alcohol instead."