BRITISH MARIJUANA LAW COMES UNDER ATTACK

If ever there were an example of the hysteria over marijuana, it is a case
in England that involves the press, the courts, the highest levels of
British government and last, but certainly not least, a 17-year-old boy.

Like politicians all over the Western world, Britain's new Labor government
has been struggling with this question: Does it make sense to treat
marijuana users as criminals when millions of people are legally harming
themselves -- and potentially endangering others -- with their consumption
of alcohol and tobacco?

In private, many Labor politicians say no. In public, Prime Minister Tony
Blair and his Cabinet have taken a hard line against decriminalizing pot,
contending it is a "gateway" drug that can lead to heroin and cocaine
addiction.

So it was big news recently when an undercover reporter for the Mirror, one
of England's leading tabloids, went into a pub and bought some marijuana
from the 17-year-old son of a senior British Cabinet minister.

The Mirror contacted the official but did not identify him publicly because
the boy is a juvenile. According to the paper, the minister took his son to
a London police station and insisted that he receive no special privileges.

The story ignited the debate over marijuana decriminalization, which has
been spearheaded by another daily newspaper, the Independent.

In an open letter to Home Secretary Jack Straw, the man in charge of
Britain's criminal justice system, the Independent's editor urged the
government to reconsider "how stupid the law is" and how much police and
court time are tied up prosecuting people for pot possession.

"As Home Secretary you must come across all sorts of terrible examples of
violence and social breakdown. What proportion of them are caused by alcohol
and how many are due to cannabis use? I am certain I know the answer. Yet
society will reprimand this boy for possessing cannabis but ignore the fact
that as a 17-year-old old he was in a pub where alcohol was being consumed."

Straw's reply was swift -- he strongly reiterated the government's anti-pot
position:

"The more I examine the evidence, I am less and less convinced of the cause
for decriminalization. . . . Drug abuse of all kinds, including abuse of
cannabis, lies behind a huge amount of crime in this country. It would be
utterly irresponsible to go down the road of decriminalization or
legalization."

The government was further embarrassed when one Labor member of Parliament
acknowledged smoking marijuana as a teenager.

Militant advocates of decriminalization have threated to "out" other Labor
politicians who also have used pot.

In its decriminalization campaign, the Independent has the support of many
notables, including Paul McCartney, billionaire Richard Branson, playwright
Harold Pinter and even Howard Brookes-Baker, publisher of Burke's Peerage.

A former member of the Greater Manchester Drugs Squad, one of the biggest in
Britain, echoed the view of many that marijuana usage should be considered a
public health problem, not a criminal one.

"Toward the end of my service I saw that this was really a medicinal issue,"
said former Detective Chief Inspector Ron Clarke, stressing his own
abhorrence of drugs and the drug culture.

"I got tired of seeing otherwise innocent young kids from all walks of life
getting criminal records for, in effect, doing nothing more than millions of
other people in society were doing with alcohol."

Advocates of decriminalization frequently point to Holland, where usage of
"hard drugs" like heroin and cocaine actually dropped after marijuana was
decriminalized. Moreover, glue sniffing and other forms of lethal-solvent
abuse are rare among Dutch teens.

In the past few days, the case has taken several bizarre turns. Police
arrested the Mirror reporter, 30-year-old Dawn Alford, on suspicion of
possessing cannabis. That prompted cries of outrage from the paper and
allegations that the case, contrary to the minister's pleas, was in fact
being handled very differently from others.

Prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue criminal charges against the
minister's son.

Detectives purportedly have recommended he either be cautioned or face no
action at all, given the small amount of marijuana involved.

While the minister's identity quickly became known in government, media and
Internet circles, no English news organization has yet named him because it
would be tantamount to identifying his son. British law bans identification
of suspects under 18.

On Friday, however, three Scottish newspaper printed the minister's name on
the grounds that Scottish law sets 16 as the minimum age for identifying
juvenile suspects.

"The situation has rapidly descended into farce," said the editor of
Scotland's Daily Record. "It is time this whole story was out in the open so
the public can make up its own mind."

So, just who is the minister? None other Britain's most ardent defender of
strong marijuana laws -- Home Secretary Jack Straw.