VICAR CALLS ON MINISTERS TO LEGALISE HEROIN

A VICAR yesterday called on the Government to consider legalising heroin,
and suggested that the drug should be sold by a state-run monopoly with a
health warning.

The Rev Peter Green, from Dudley, West Midlands, yesterday called for a
debate into the drug's illegal status and said that leaving the
distribution of heroin in the hands of organised criminals was "fraught
with dangers".

His candid remarks coincided with a warning of a heroin epidemic by the
Government's drug tsar Keith Hellawell, following the release of Customs
and Excise figures which reveal record seizures of the drug.

Mr Green, vicar at the St Barnabas Church, told The Independent yesterday:
"I am reluctantly of the view that the prohibition of drugs such as heroin
should be reconsidered. Is it worth considering decriminalising the sale of
heroin, having it supplied by a state monopoly in conjunction with the kind
of warning that surrounds the sale of tobacco?

"I'm very concerned that the drug's prohibition is courting a whole stack
of appalling problems. I'm not in favour of heroin abuse, but my own
feeling is that prohibition isn't working. I believe it is putting a
considerable amount of money into the hands of very dangerous people.

"Heroin use can draw people into criminal and sociopathic behaviour. Users
often go into burglary, dealing heroin, prostitution and other criminal
activities to feed their habits. This is because the drug, in the long
term, is extremely expensive."

Mr Green, aged 38, said: "My own very strong feeling is that the control of
supply should be taken out of the hands of criminals and taken over by a
state monopoly which wasn't driven by the desire for profit. The sale would
be surrounded by health warnings of the type that govern tobacco."

The Church of England yesterday said they did not support Mr Green's
opinions. A spokesman said: "I don't think anyone who has seen first hand
the devastating impact that heroin and its derivatives has on individuals
and communities could possibly argue that there should be no restrictions
on its availability."

Mr Green's comments have been sparked by what he sees as the "appalling
effect" of crime on the community. He said: "I have seen the effect that
crime can have on people. In my own community, a whole congregation
decamped from the evening service to the morning service because two
members had been mugged in town and received quite serious injuries the
week before. Suddenly, everyone was afraid to go out in the dark.

"There are many reasons for crime but much of it is caused by people
supplying their drug habit. I think I am aware of kids being supplied in
the vicinity and they are in the hands of unscrupulous people," he said.
"From a theological perspective, this comes under the heading: 'Not
everything which is sinful should also be illegal.'"