Letters

AS the son of a former Home Secretary, I couldn't help but sympathise with
William Straw after his entrapment by the Mirror. I was glad that he did not
suffer the usual fate of those who admit to the police they supplied drugs.

Do we still need to make the millions of occasional users endure breaking and
entering, and false imprisonment? By making possession an offence we make so
many otherwise law-abiding citizens into outlaws. We should also remember that
it was prohibition that made the Mafia strong and realise that this new
prohibition is nurturing animals whose organisations make the Mafia look like
Mensa.

Will Maudling, London

AT A recent meeting we voted unanimously in favour of decriminalising
cannabis.
The assumption that cannabis users inevitably turn to harder drugs is
ridiculous. We can reduce the number who do by decriminalising cannabis,
thereby keeping ordinary users away from the criminal drugs world. If the sale
of cannabis were to be regulated, Liberal Democrats would tax it and channel
the extra revenue into under-funded health and education services.

Matt Davies, Durham University Liberal Democrat Youth and Students

IT IS time for the Government to take a good look at its drugs policy. I find
it hard to believe that all MPs think that drugs should continue to be
illegal.
At the moment it seems that our government is simply based on reaction.

Alastair C Irvine

WILLIAM Straw's father has been duplicitous. William Straw supplied a class B
drug for profit in a pub when he was under 18. The important issues were not
freedom of the press and rights of privacy, but Jack Straw duping the press
with the spin induced by these frothy issues. This enables him to carry on
persecuting people who use cannabis for their own pleasure.

Commander (retd) Mick Humphreys, Somerset