KENNEDY DETECTS A SOFTER LINE ON DRUGS

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy yesterday suggested the
Government was beginning to shift its position on the
decriminalisation of drugs.

His claim came after the Home Secretary appeared to soften the
Government's tone on the drugs issue.

In a newspaper article, Mr Jack Straw noted there was "a coherent
argument in favour of legalising cannabis" although he stressed he did
not agree with it; he accepted legalising cannabis "would not
necessarily greatly increase addiction to hard drugs"; he said it was
"far-fetched" to argue that taking cannabis was "bound to lead people
into hard drugs" and that in principle he had "no problem" with the
use of cannabis for medicinal purposes - provided medical experts gave
the go-ahead.

His comments followed the report earlier last week by the Police
Foundation charity, which recommended people caught with small amounts
of cannabis or ecstasy should not be sent to prison.

Speaking on LWT's Jonathan Dimbleby programme yesterday, Mr Kennedy
said he believed he detected signs that the Government was moving on
the drugs issue and that his desire for a Royal Commission on the
subject might be realised. "If you think about the evidence even of
the last two or three days, the Government's position is moving. Maybe
they will see sense."

He also argued that the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes should
be allowed but he said that as yet he was "not persuaded about the
decriminalisation of so-called soft drugs".

Mr Kennedy said he wanted a "serious" debate on the subject and
criticised the "conspiracy of silence at Westminster," which he
branded "an absolute disgrace".

In response to an audience member who suggested heroin-taking should
be seen as a medical issue not a criminal one and that money should be
taken out of dealers' hands to protect poor communities, Mr Kennedy
said: "He's just won my vote."

When it was pointed out yesterday that Sir John Stevens, the
Metropolitan Police Commissioner, had said his force could work within
a framework of the decriminalisation of cannabis, the Liberal Democrat
leader noted: "We've got to start listening to this."

In his article for the News of the World, Mr Straw argued that
legalising cannabis would risk making Britain the centre of the
European drugs trade.

But Labour MP for Newport West Paul Flynn, who is a campaigner for
allowing cannabis to be used for medical purposes, insisted the
Minister's argument that decriminalisation would attract drug tourists
to Britain was "ill-informed scare-mongering".