LABOUR IN DRUGS CHAOS
Three More MSPs Named In Row Over Dope Smoking

Labour's dope-smoking nightmare worsened last night over claims that
more of their MSPs want to legalise cannabis.

The party revealed Kate MacLean, who has admitted smoking cannabis for
years when she was younger, would not have any action take against
her. But she further angered Labour chiefs by claims that she also
said the recreational use of the drug should be legalised.

And MSPs Cathie Peattie, Cathy Jamieson and Margaret Curran were also
said to have backed the move in a survey for the Big Issue magazine.
Last night, they all tried to play down the row and discredited the
survey. Legalising cannabis is totally against Labour policy and party
chiefs were seething with anger yesterday.

The party are also against the setting up of a Royal Commission on the
legalisation or decriminalisation of the drug.

A senior Government source said: "Let's just say we are very concerned
about this. "We need to clarify exactly what was said but party policy
is clear." MacLean, who sits on the anti-drugs Justice Committee, last
night owned up to ticking a box saying she was in favour of a shake-up
in the law to legalise cannabis for recreational use.

She said: "My position is that there should be a Royal Commission into
it and after the evidence is heard people can make their minds up."
She also revealed yesterday that she had told her two teenage children
about her dope-smoking past long before the story broke.

MacLean said: "Most teenagers find it slightly amusing that their
parents have ever done anything in their past.

"It is something that has come up. But they are okay about it. "I have
advised them not to take drugs, not to smoke cigarettes. "All I can do
is advise them and be honest about things." MacLean said that like any
other parent she didn't want her children to take drugs. But she
added: "They are adults. I can't tell them to do anything. "If they
had I would probably be the last to know.

"But it's a criminal offence. And if you are convicted it can cause
all sorts of problems from stopping you getting a job to even
travelling abroad." Last night, Peattie said she was angry the survey
revealed her name. The Falkirk East MSP said: "I did not tick any box
in a survey. I was asked about the issue over the telephone.

"I am in favour of approaching the issue of recreational use with an
open mind. "I would like to hear the arguments. That's about as far as
I can go really. "I am certainly not in favour of there being a free
for all. Nor am I in favour of tobacco companies being allowed to sell
cannabis. "That just frightens me."

Jamieson and Curran also hit out at the survey and claimed their names
were not supposed to have been revealed.

Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudon, said: "Why were only the
names of the Labour MSPs made public in this survey?

"I want to know what the views of the other MSPs who responded to the
survey were." She said she had been "totally misrepresented".

Margaret Curran, who chairs the Parliament's Social Inclusion
Committee, said she had given a "measured view" which was not
reflected in the article. She said: "If I thought it was going to help
people who take it for medicinal purposes, MS sufferers for example,
then I would be sympathetic. "But you cannot change legislation unless
you have the support of communities most affected by the drug problem."

Most political parties yesterday backed MacLean's stance in owning up
to her drug-taking past.

But Tory MSP Phil Gallie called on her to apologise for her past
actions - and said that if she did not "serious questions" would hang
over her Justice Committee role.

He said: "By not expressing regret for her previous actions, Kate
MacLean seems to misalign herself with what the Justice Committee is
about." An SNP spokesman said: "This is embarrassing for the Labour
Party, but it happened a long time ago. I don't think it should have
any impact on her role in the parliament."

SNP MSP Margo MacDonald called for the Scottish Parliament to set up a
commission of experts and lay people to examine the medical issue. Her
motion earlier this year was backed by only 15 MSPs - none from
Labour. The Big Issue survey found eight unnamed Tories, seven Lib
Dems and 15 SNP MSPs in favour of cannabis being used as a medicine.
It can relieve the pain of multiple sclerosis sufferers and
stomach-cancer patients. MacDonald said MacLean had been brave to be
so "honest" in her response. She added that decriminalising the drug's
use for medicinal purposes would stop innocent people being convicted.

MacDonald said: "I would like to see the effects of cannabis evaluated
alongside those of alcohol and nicotine."