CANNABIS GIVEN BISHOP'S BLESSING

Leader of the Scottish Episcopal Church criticised over call for drug to be
legalised for medical treatment

THE leader of the Scottish Episcopal Church will this week become the most
prominent British churchman to call for cannabis to be partly legalised.

The Most Rev Richard Holloway, Bishop of Edinburgh, is to argue that
cannabis should be allowed for medical treatment. The news was greeted with
disapproval by anti-drugs campaigners.

The bishop's latest brush with controversy comes less than three weeks
after he vowed to temper his outspoken ways.

In a lecture at Gresham College in London on Thursday, Bishop Holloway will
question whether supporting the ban on the use of cannabis for recreational
purposes means supporting a ban on its medical use.

In a text of the lecture, released in advance, he says: "If we argue that
the drug is banned because it harms people, how can we apply that as an
argument against using the substance medically to benefit people?"

He draws comparisons with scalpels, which could be lethal in the hands of
criminals or could be instruments of healing in the hands of surgeons. "If
we ban scalpels completely because they can injure people if used
unlawfully, we harm those who would benefit from their lawful use. The same
is obviously true of substances that can be put to different uses."

He also appears to attack the Government's stance on drugs, saying: "The
purely prohibitionist approach does not seem to work, though the motivation
behind it is understandable and it has enormous symbolic importance for
many people." The danger of legalising all drugs was that weaker members of
society would be exposed to dangers, he adds.

The problem with the drugs debate was the "echoes here of the ancient
culture of sin and witchcraft that hold certain substances or natural
activities to be wrong in themselves, inherently wicked," he says.

But he adds that the drugs made illegal in Britain and the US were outlawed
"for reasons that have as much to do with politics, class and race as with
the problematic qualities of the drugs themselves".

He says: "If the moral calculus were based simply on the potential danger
of any particular drug, then we would have outlawed the two most dangerous
drugs on the market long ago, alcohol and tobacco."

He appears to favour the setting up of a Royal Commission to examine the
arguments about the legality of drugs, calling for "a major investigation
that will look dispassionately at all the factors and make recommendations
for achievable change".

The bishop was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The Government-backed Scotland Against Drugs said Bishop Holloway's stance
on drugs was "nonsense". A spokesman said: "If the drug companies believe
cannabis has medical properties, they can apply for a licence to conduct
laboratory tests to see if it could help people."

The spokesman said there were no good reasons for decriminalising or
legalising recreational use of any illegal drugs. He said: "You need look
no further than Holland to see the effects of liberalising drug laws. They
have one of the highest crime rates in Europe."

But the Legalise Cannabis Campaign called his comments "very sensible".

Bishop Holloway, has spoken out about drugs before. Shortly after becoming
a bishop, in 1986, he said in a televised sermon that legalising drugs and
prostitution might give society more control over them. But he pointed out
afterwards that he was not advocating this, merely highlighting the ethical
dilemma.

Earlier this month, he apologised for his remarks about opponents of women
priests. He had described the traditionalists in 1996 as "miserable
buggers" and "the meanest-minded sods you can imagine".

Bishop Holloway's apology came after a belated complaint to the other
Scottish Episcopal bishops by members and retired priests. He said he would
be sticking to the "Queen's English".

But, a day later, he wrote an article in The Scotsman in which he hit out
at traditionalists from all denominations. He called those who were against
women priests "a virus".

His radical credentials on social issues are long established. He carried a
wooden cross in a protest outside Torness nuclear power station and led
rent strikes when he was a parish priest in the Glasgow Gorbals.

The remarks which brought him the most attention were misinterpreted, he
has maintained. In 1995, his views on sexuality were seen as indicating a
soft stance on adultery.

In his most recent book, Dancing on the Edge, he approached a range of
subjects which he felt excluded people from the church. He called for the
church to treat cohabiting couples as if they were married. He also
advocated blessings for gay relationships.

Bishop Holloway has also said he would like to stand for the Scottish
parliament and would quit the church to go into politics.