Subj: Letter from the editor

Date: Mar 28, 1998

Source: The Independent

Letter from the editor

TODAY, I shall be out on the streets of central
London marching for a cause I believe in. While
at the Independent on Sunday, I decided to
launch a campaign for the decriminalisation of
cannabis - not heroin, cocaine, or other hard
drugs but pot, which has very few harmful side
effects and even better, can alleviate the suffering
of multiple sclerosis sufferers. At noon today, MS
groups will join me, MPs, MEPs and supporters
of our campaign as we wend our way from Hyde
Park to Trafalgar Square. It will be an intensely
exciting occasion, one that marks a high-point in
our six-month effort. But there is still much work
to be done - while studies released by the World
Health Organisation and British Medical
Association point to the relatively benign affects
of cannabis versus other drugs, most notably
alcohol, and many public figures from the media,
medicine, science, the arts, even the police have
voiced their support, the Government refuses to
budge.

That is why we are marching today, and,
hopefully, at last, Tony Blair and Jack Straw will
listen and understand this is one campaign that is
not going to go away.

THIS week, The Independent invited the main
party leaders to sign up to the Prime Minister's
powerful statement attacking racism which he
delivered in Southwark 10 days ago. Here at The
Independent we applauded his sentiments. So too
did William Hague and Paddy Ashdown, who
echoed his views. As our political editor, Anthony
Bevins, wrote in the paper on Wednesday, racism
is endemic in our society. Barely had Tony written
this than the Director-General of the Prison
Service, Richard Tilt, said that Afro-Caribbean
people were more prone to suffer "positional
asphyxia" than white people. There were
"physiological differences as well," he added. Mr
Tilt did at least admit that there was racism in the
Prison Service, but attitudes like his - which
reminded me of the Bell Curve controversy in
America - show how urgent the party leaders'
commitment truly is. As a newspaper, The
Independent has always stood firmly behind its
belief in racial, cultural and sexual freedom for all.
But we can never be complacent. As Mr Hague
said, "more needs to be done to bring down the
barriers of ignorance and mistrust which still exist
in parts of our society."

SO, Canadian teenagers have gone wild for
Prince William. Ten thousand hysterical girls
turned out to see him as "Wills Mania" swept
through Vancouver. In my teenage daughter's life,
William's reign as the king of pin-ups lasted for
only a part of the autumn term following Diana's
death. It ended abruptly with the arrival of
Leonardo DiCaprio, star of Romeo and Juliet,
Titanic and now The Man In The Iron Mask.
William, as far as my daughter is concerned, is
history. She is, however, disgusted by her
mother's poor judgement: three years ago, while I
was editing Esquire, I went to a party at Giorgio
Armani's. As I sat down to eat, a young man
flopped into the seat beside me. His name was
Leonardo DiCaprio. His blond hair was hanging
over his eyebrows, his jeans and trainers
decidedly scruffy. "Put me on the cover of your
magazine. I'm going to be the most famous actor
in the world within three years." At that point his
fame was limited to his ( totally brilliant)
performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I
didn't put him on the cover. My daughter cannot
believe it.

LAST Monday, the Independent reporter Steve
Goodwin set off to climb Everest. The office
clapped as he departed for his flight from London
to Kathmandu. As someone who read Jon
Krakauer's extraordinary account of climbing
Everest, Into Thin Air, when it first appeared as
an extract in America's Outside magazine, I am
moved and impressed by Steve's guts.
Technology (solar panels, satellite phones, digital
cameras) permitting, you'll be able to follow the
ascent day by day in the pages of The
Independent over the next 10 weeks. He has our
very best wishes.