GERMANY WEIGHING POT LEGALIZATION

BONN (November 8, 1998 08:56 a.m. EST) -
Germany's new government said it will study the case made for
legalizing possession of small quantities of soft drugs such as cannabis.

"We're certainly going to look at it. There have been some interesting
essays on this and an EU report on it, too," Interior Minister Otto
Schily told Spiegel news magazine in an article made available on Sunday.

The ecologist Greens, junior partners in the new coalition, have long
been in favor of decriminalizing the use of soft drugs but Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats have so far resisted such a move.

Schily, a former Greens member who as a lawyer during the 1970s
achieved notoriety in Germany for defending Red Army Faction
guerrillas, said he would be seeking expert consultation on the issue.

Schroeder's government has announced plans for a more liberal drugs
policy, including state methadone programs and controlled heroin
prescription to serious addicts.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady