LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Mr Straw,

I write in the hope that the arrest of a Cabinet member's son for supplying
a small amount of cannabis might bring home to you just how stupid the law
is, and how much police and court time is tied up in prosecuting people for
possessing or dealing in a drug that is not dangerous.

I do not need to tell you how this young man's life will be blighted by
this incident. He is likely to receive a criminal record and be punished by
his school for selling a small lump of a drug that is not addictive and is
less harmful than tobacco or alcohol.

It is three months since the Independent on Sunday launched its campaign to
decriminalise cannabis for personal use. We have had thousands of messages
of support from people in all walks of life, including serving and retired
police officers, magistrates, doctors, teachers and multiple sclerosis
sufferers, for whom cannabis can provide relief. So far you, as the
minister in charge of drugs policy, have reiterated your oppositon to
decriminalisation and the Government has refused to debate the issue in the
Commons.

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 he was in a pub where alcohol was
being consumed.

A major plank in the Government's case is that cannabis is a "gateway" drug
that can lead to heroin and cocaine addiction. We say that only occurs
precisely because cannabis use is illegal. Cannabis dealers often trade in
other, dangerous, substances; people meet them and they are on a slippery
slope. Contrary to impressions given elsewhere, we do not advocate
legalising all drugs. We do say, though, that it is time to decriminalise
cannabis.

This boy was from a caring, respectable family, which goes to show how
widespread the use of cannabis has become. Doubtless his father felt he was
doing the right thing by taking him to the police. But if his family really
wants to display compassion and understanding it might acknowledge the law
is also at fault.

Yours sincerely, Rosie Boycott