NO SOFT LINE ON DRUGS

PROPOSALS to relax Britain's drugs laws were given short shrift by the
Government yesterday. A major inquiry into drug laws called for jail
terms for hard drug users to be slashed and scrapped altogether for
softer drugs including ecstasy, LSD and cannabis.

But the Home Office and Government drug tsar Keith Hellawell said they
had no plans to accept proposals to downgrade the seriousness of the
illegal drugs offences.

The police also expressed concern over the proposals, despite the
presence of some of the country's most senior police officers on the
inquiry panel, although the report was welcomed as a ``breath of fresh
air'' by some drug campaign groups.