MSPS WANT DEBATE ON CANNABIS LAW

Nine members of the Scottish Parliament have admitted trying cannabis and
18 are in favour of decriminalising the drug, it emerged yesterday.

A survey of MSPs' attitudes to drugs also revealed that most are in favour
of cannabis being used for medicinal purposes.

The poll by the Scotland on Sunday newspaper found that 37 of the 54 MSPs
who responded to a questionnaire favoured a relaxation of the law to help
sufferers of diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Thirty-four MSPs said they wanted the parliament to debate the issue, even
though drug laws are reserved to Westminster. A motion by Margo MacDonald
of the Scottish National Party, calling for a royal commission to examine
cannabis laws, has been signed by 35 MSPs.

More than 30 members attended a private meeting before the Christmas recess
to discuss the issue with lawyers, doctors, pathologists and drug workers.
Miss McDonald said: "If the parliament is going to be relevant to the
people who pay for it then it really has got to talk about the things that
the people talk about."

Miss McDonald said that a distinction could be drawn between those who used
cannabis as well as other drugs, and those who use cannabis socially. She
said: "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."

The Scottish Executive has so far followed the hard-line policy of Jack
Straw, the Home Secretary, and plans to confiscate the assets of drug
dealers and channel the money into anti-drug community schemes. A System
Three poll earlier this year found that 51 per cent of young people in
Scotland supported the legalisation of cannabis.