CLOUDING THE ISSUE ON CANNABIS

Tony Blair yesterday chose to steer the debate on cannabis away from the
issue of whether or not politicians smoked a joint or two at university, or
still do so on the quiet. But he ended up creating yet further confusion
about whether the law should be enforced. Our NOP poll today shows that
public opinion is evenly divided on whether or not the government should
take a tougher line on marijuana. Only one in five people thinks the eight
Conservative frontbenchers who admitted smoking pot years ago were wrong to
do so.

With responses like that clouding the issue (almost literally), Ann
Widdecombe's punitive approach to users - as opposed to dealers - is best
forgotten. Criminal law needs overwhelming public support to be effective;
a confused attitude to the rights and wrongs of so-called soft drugs, with
chief constables advocating tolerance and the Queen being publicly
presented (without knowing it) with an illegal plant, bodes ill for tougher
legislation. The prime minister evidently shares the public's muddled
attitude about the seriousness of the offence of having cannabis for
personal use. Asked if ministers were free to smoke pot if they wanted to,
he ducked the issue. His comment that "it is up to people to do what they
want to do" could not have been more libertarian. He underlined that by
saying he would prefer his children not to have anything to do with drugs,
but that he might be wrong, and other parents might feel differently. In
other words he believes it is an individual's decision and, implicitly, it
has very little to do with the law.

England and Wales already have more cannabis smokers per head of population
than any other country in the European Union. The EU drugs agency said last
week that Britain also has the largest number of young users, with two out
of five 15 and 16-year-olds admitting to having experimented with it. That
does not necessarily turn them into lifelong users, but it does show the
enormous scale of usage and an ignorance about some of the medical dangers
associated with excessive use of cannabis.

Many police chiefs already regard pot users as technical offenders not
worth prosecuting. Mr Blair has effectively given them his support. He
still rules out decriminalisation but the boundaries of tolerance are
shifting. Drug opponents will be asking: what next?