EIGHT IN 10 BRITONS FAVOUR AN EASING OF THE LAW

IF Jack Straw decides to back the decriminalising of cannabis, he will find
that the overwhelming majority of Britons are behind him, to judge from a
Mori poll for the Independent on Sunday which revealed that 80 per cent
want the law relaxed.

Almost half of those polled (45 per cent) said they were in favour of the
law being changed for those who need cannabis for medicinal purposes, while
35 per cent wanted cannabis legalised for recreational use. Only one in six
(17 per cent) approved of the Government's policy of maintaining the status
quo.

Mr Straw would be particularly popular among under-45s, 45 per cent of whom
believe cannabis should be available for personal use. The belief among
ministers and their advisers that our campaign appeals chiefly to
middle-class intellectuals was not borne out by the poll. More than half of
working-classrespondents (55 per cent) thought a debate on a change in the
law was a good idea.

Further evidence that the Government is wrong to dismiss the cross-class
support for decriminilisation came from a phone-in poll published around
the same time of the IoS Mori poll. The Labour-supporting Mirror showed its
readers voting by nearly two to one in favour of decriminalisation.

Nearly six out of 10 (59 per cent) Conservative voters and seven out of 10
(68 per cent) of Labour were in favour of a debate; 64 per cent applauded
the unprecedented call by Lord Bingham, the Lord Chief Justice, last
October for an open debate on legalising cannabis.