BLAIR SAYS MARIJUANA SHOULD REMAIN ILLEGAL

Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped gingerly into Britain's latest
debate over marijuana, saying the drug should remain illegal.

But the prime minister, who was speaking to the BBC, was careful not
to criticise politicians from the opposition Conservative Party who
admitted last week that they had smoked the drug in their younger years.

"I think what is important is not what happened on some university
campus years ago in respect of particular ministers or particular
opposition spokesmen," Mr Blair said from the coastal French resort of
Biarritz where he is attending a European Union summit.

"What is important is making sure we fight organised crime and the
drugs trade, which is exactly what we are doing," he said.

The Conservative Party inadvertently sparked a debate over marijuana
after Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe announced a "zero
tolerance" policy toward the drug at the party's annual conference two
weeks ago =96 a moved aimed to underline the Conservative's
law=96and=96order stance.

Under Tory plans, someone caught possessing any amount of marijuana
would face a mandatory $100 fine for a first offence.

Senior Tories immediately rounded on the hardline position, with seven
admitting that they had once smoked the drug. Police officials
described the policy as unworkable.

The debate forced Tory party leader William Hague into a retreat. He
said the policy would be reconsidered in consultation with police and
other experts.

The Labour Party has largely stayed out of the debate, with most
ministers refusing to comment on whether they ever experimented with
marijuana.

But on Friday, Yvette Cooper, the minister for public health, became
the first government minister since the debate was reignited to admit
smoking the drug. Last year, the party's popular Cabinet Minster Mo
Mowlam admitted trying the drug as a student in the early 70s.

"I did try cannabis while at university, like a lot of students at
that time, and it is something that I have left, you know, behind and
it was several years ago," Cooper told the BBC.

Blair told the BBC that he believed Britons were more interested in
government efforts to stop the spread of drugs than in which
politicians have or have not smoked marijuana. He said that his
government remained committed to fighting drugs, adding that he
thought decriminalising marijuana would harm police efforts to tackle
other drugs.

But Blair denied that his party had ordered government ministers not
to add to the latest round of political confessions by revealing any
youthful experience with marijuana.

"It is up to people to do what they want to do but I think it is
important that we concentrate on the issue which I think will be of
much greater interest to the public," Blair said.