CANNABIS REFORM MOTION 'TOO SOFT'

A PLAY for radical drug-law reform has attracted criticism for being "soft
on drugs".

A motion to separate cannabis laws from those governing other illegal drugs
was brought before Parliament by the Democrats Leader, Mr Mike Elliott,
yesterday.

The motion drew on the beneficial effects Mr Elliott said he saw in the
Netherlands, where cannabis laws were separate.

Mr Elliott said Switzerland's heroin trial had been successful "beyond
dispute" and in the Netherlands drug deaths had fallen.

But a Liberal MP, Mr Martin Hamilton-Smith, said it "will be perceived as
being soft on drugs". He said while there was a "good argument" for a heroin
trial, making cannabis laws separate from those for other drugs would be
seen as "soft".

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst