GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF 'ANTI-GREEN DRUGS CAMPAIGN'

The Labour party has been accused of hypocrisy for urging its
councillors to attack the Green party's drug policy weeks before David
Blunkett cautiously welcomed a new scheme that effectively
decriminalises cannabis in parts of London.

A private Millbank briefing launched in the run-up to last month's
county council elections and seen by Guardian Unlimited gives local
politicians tips on running an "anti-Green drugs campaign," highlighting
the party's policy of decriminalising drugs for personal use.

Standard letters to the local press enclosed in the briefing urge Green
council candidates to distance themselves from the policy, which Labour
claims will lead to "more drug use and crime locally."

This month, however, Mr Blunkett apparently softened Labour's line on
drugs, saying there was room for "an adult, intelligent debate" on the
future direction of policy.

Such a statement would have been unthinkable under his hardline
predecessor, Jack Straw.

Mr Blunkett has not ruled out the possibility of extending nationally a
scheme currently running in the south London borough of Lambeth that
allows the police to take a more relaxed attitude to cannabis
possession.

Anyone caught in possession will be given a warning and have their drugs
confiscated.

The have Greens slated the Millbank briefing as "hypocritical". National
spokesman Mike Woodin said: "We welcome the fact that David Blunkett
seems more enlightened than his predecessor on this.

"But I find it hypocritical that just week's before his u-turn on drugs,
Labour were attempting to make reactionary political capital out of
Green Party policies."

The briefing claims that some of those who may be tempted to vote Green
will be "totally unaware" of the party's policies on drugs. It focuses
particularly on an ecstasy testing kit being sold through a Green Party
hotline.

One of Millbank's standard letters to the press reads: "Greens are
openly promoting the decriminalising of drugs. This national hotline to
promote the use of ecstasy is immoral."

The Green party does not support the immediate legalisation of ecstasy,
calling instead for a Royal Commission into the legal status of
supplying class A drugs. However the party would decriminalise for
personal use. . The party would also allow people to grow their own
cannabis at home, and allow the drug to be sold in licensed "coffee
shops".

GPs would be allowed to prescribe heroin to stabilise addicts' habits
and help direct users into treatment programmes. Commercial promotion of
drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, would be banned.