A THIRD OF MSPS WANT TO GO SOFT ON DRUGS

Survey Shock: Scots Politicians Favour Decriminalising Cannabis

A THIRD of MSPs want cannabis to be decriminalised,
a new survey has revealed. And more than half of them
want the drug to be available for medical use, on doctors' prescriptions.

The findings are certain to add to mounting
pressure for a change in the laws relating to soft drugs. The poll for
a Sunday paper found that, out of the 54 who responded, 37 favoured a
relaxation of the law to help sufferers of diseases such as multiple
sclerosis.

It also found that 18 supported the campaign to
decriminalise cannabis - while nine admitted they had tried it. A
motion has already been tabled by the Scottish National Party's Margo
MacDonald calling for a commission to examine cannabis laws. It has
been signed by 35 MSPs of all parties, including Labour's Kate
MacLean.

She was carpeted by Labour party bosses earlier this year
after she admitted smoking dope in her youth. MSPs attended a private
meeting a fortnight ago at which they quizzed lawyers, doctors,
pathologists, cannabis campaigners, social workers and drug workers.
Drugs policy is still decided at Westminster but MSPs can debate the
issue and urge their London colleagues to change the criminal justice
system in Scotland.

Margo MacDonald said: "If the Parliament is going
to be relevant to the people who pay for it then it has really got to
talk about the things they talk about." She said a distinction could
be drawn between those who use cannabis alongside medical drugs and
those who use it socially. She added: "There seems to me a very fine
line, if any, between the social use of alcohol and the way in which a
great number of people use cannabis. "All of this would be examined by
a commission which would report to the parliament and the parliament
could then decide how to dispose of it.

"Is it worth the time of the courts, the police, the education and
medical services in pursuing the present law in relation to cannabis
when arguably two drugs, sold in a controlled manner - alcohol and
tobacco - pose a much greater threat to the individual and society?"

Of all the parties, only the Liberal Democrats favour a Royal
Commission on drugs policy. Labour has maintained a hard-line approach
to drugs, although Home Secretary Jack Straw has signalled recently he
may be willing to allow restricted use of cannabis for medicinal
purposes.

The coalition Scottish Executivehas taken a tough line on drugs with
plans to confiscate the assets of suspected dealers and channel the
money into anti-drugs schemes. And a new Scottish Drugs Enforcement
Agency will lead the fight against the trade.

SNP deputy leader John Swinney said: "We remain hostile to
decriminalisation. We are content with the law as it stands. "But we
are keen to have a debate on the use of cannabis for medicinal
purposes."

Tory home affairs spokesman Phil Gallie said: "I think it
should be available for medicinal purposes. "The Government has the
power to make cannabis available as a prescribed medicine."

But GP Adrian Rogers, of the pressure group Family Focus, warned against
any relaxation of drug laws. He said: "We already have enough trouble with
alcohol and tobacco and to legalise another harmful drug would be
careless. "The use of cannabis for medicinal purposes is another issue
entirely but this is not something that should be done on the whim of
a politician." A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "It's a reserved
matter.

The Scottish parliament has no locus. "The Executive's policy on drug
use is absolutely clear - we are opposed to any change in the law." An
opinion poll carried out by System Three earlier this year found 51
per cent of Scotland's young people said they support the legalisation
of cannabis. The country's most senior judge, Lord McCluskey, was at
the centre of a row in July when he called for a fresh look at
legalisation. He pointed out that rapists can get a lesser prison
sentence than those who import cannabis. Scottish doctors narrowly
rejected a call for them to support legalisation in the summer.
Cannabis was outlawed in the UK at the start of the century.

Before then, it was freely available - along with cocaine and opiates
- - from chemist shops, usually in liquid tincture form. It was only
with the cultural revolution in the 1960s that cannabis became an
issue again.

Sir Paul McCartney was among those behind one early bid to have pot
legalised. Cannabis in Britain has grown from being smoked by a few
thousand people in the 50s to an estimated five million regular users
today. But politicians of all parties have always strongly resisted
any weakening of the law prohibiting it.