HELLAWELL BACKS DRUG POLICY

Keith Hellawell, the Government's anti-drugs co-ordinator, accused
pro-cannabis campaigners yesterday of being nothing more than a tiny but
noisy pressure group.

At the launch of his final annual report, he denied that the Government's
policy was out of step with public opinion and said that calls for a
relaxation of the law came from "a very limited quarter". He said that no
country, including Holland and Portugal, would legalise cannabis.

Mr Hellawell denied any suggestion that he had softened his attitude over
the links between cannabis and other drugs. But he said he supported the
experiment by police in Brixton, South London, to give people found in
possession of small amounts of cannabis a verbal warning and confiscate the
drug.

He admitted concern that a survey in schools had shown a rise in the use of
cocaine and a small but persistent rise in drug use by pupils aged 11-15.

His report shows a four per cent rise in the seizure of Class A drugs such
as heroin in 1999, and the upward trend continued last year.