STRAW REJECTS REVIEW OF LAWS ON CANNABIS AS NEW MPS OWN UP

The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, ruled out a Royal commission to review drug
laws after one in five new MPs who responded to a survey admitted they had
smoked cannabis.

Campaigners for decriminilisation of the drug were given a further boost
when a Tory MP, David Prior, said he had used it when he was in his 20s and
admitted: "Yes, I did inhale".

The survey, carried out anonymously by LWT's 'Jonathan Dimbleby' programme,
found that two-thirds of the 1997 intake who responded to a questionnaire
believed there should be an inquiry by a Royal commission.

But that was firmly rejected by Mr Straw, who warned there could be an
explosion in drug use if the laws were relaxed.

"Governments set up Royal commissions when they are uncertain what to do
about something. We are not uncertain about this," he told Radio 4's 'The
World this Weekend'.

However Mr Prior, who is believed to be the first Conservative MP to have
admitted publicly to smoking cannabis, said the law was "hypocritical and
dishonest" and should be reformed.

Writing in the 'Independent on Sunday', which has been campaigning for
reform, the MP for North Norfolk, who is the son of the former cabinet
minister Lord Prior, said the law was inconsistently enforced and widely
ignored.

"I associate my experience with drugs [soft ones] not with Mick Jagger or
Aldous Huxley but with passing my law degree and working in a bank," he
said. "You can wear a pinstripe suit and be utterly conventional and still
roll a joint. And yes, I did inhale. But that was a long time ago. I
stopped some time in my late 20s and took up alcohol instead."

The survey was based on questionnaires sent to the 243 MPs who were elected
to parliament at last year's election. Of the 81 who responded, 51 per cent
said they believed the laws on cannabis were "too harsh".