STRAW STICKS TO TOUGH DRUGS LINE

Home Secretary Jack Straw, whose son is accused of selling cannabis, said
today that if campaigners could prove the drug was not dangerous, the
Government would have to think again about legalising it.

But he said so far there was no evidence to undermine the view that it was
potentially dangerous and should remain illegal.

He and his 17-year-old son, William, have been named at the centre of the
drug allegations after the High Court lifted an injunction banning
identifying them.

Mr Straw said today that if his son got a criminal record, that was a
natural consequence of having done something unlawful.

He stressed he had assumed from the day he took his son to a police station
that he would be named, and admitted to initial confusion over whether his
son had been charged - he was released on police bail - because procedures
had changed since he practised as a lawyer 25 years ago.