CANNABIS CAMPAIGN SOROS ADDS WEIGHT TO THE CAUSE

Now's The Time To Decriminalise, Says The Legendary Financier.

By Graham Ball

GEORGE SOROS, the multibillionaire financier and philanthropist, is
supporting the Independent on Sunday's campaign to decriminalise cannabis.

Mr Soros, one of the world's richest men, is backing our drive to change
the laws on the personal possession of cannabis for recreational and
medical purposes through his New Yorkbased research foundation, the
Lindesmith Centre.

In 1995 Mr Soros earnt the highest personal income reported by any private
citizen in the world, some $600m, but he also gave $300m away. Most of his
charitable donations go to educational and directaid projects in the
former Eastern bloc countries of the old Soviet empire.

His philanthropic plan is to create the philospher Sir Karl Popper's
concept of an "open society" based on tolerance for minorities,
intellectual freedom and social selfrestraint.

Mr Soros was hardly known outside financial circles in Britain until
October 1992 when he spearheaded a wave of speculative selling that
eventually drove sterling out of the ERM (Exchange Rate Mechanism).

He started life in a humble Jewish home in Hungary and was 14 when the
Nazis took over. After the Russians came in he escaped to England, went to
the London School of Economics and studied under Professor Popper. He then
became one of Wall Street's most brilliant fund managers and was worth $4m
by 1969. Eleven years later, having become one of the world's most powerful
financial speculators, he began to establish his "Open Society" foundations.

Last month he announced that he was prepared to spend up to half a billion
dollars in Russia on philanthropic projects which will include funds to
fight the spread of tuberculosis, improve mother and child medical care and
retrain personnel leaving the armed services.

Nearer home, he has this year donated $15m to fund the fight to reform the
US's draconian drug laws. In a personal statement, Mr Soros wrote: "I
wanted to congratulate the Independent on Sunday's campaign to broaden the
debate about cannabis policy. This is an important and courageous
initiative. I hope others in the UK, the USA and elsewhere will follow your
lead.

"I am also pleased to see your newspaper make use of Marijuana Myths,
Marijuana Facts, a book published by The Lindesmith Centre. The book has
been strongly endorsed by the principal authors of the last two independent
US commissions on marijuana.

"While I do not favour the outright legalisation of cannabis, I do favour
its legalisation for medicinal purposes as well as broader
decriminalisation, provided adequate safeguards are taken to minimise
misuse among young people. I am delighted to find out that I am not alone.
In a recent poll of British Members of Parliament, 70 per cent of those
surveyed believe there is a good case for legalising cannabis for medicinal
purposes.

"In the US, I was proud to support voter initiatives to legalise the
medicinal use of marijuana and I will continue to support such initiatives
in the future. It is a shame that the American War on Drugs continues to
block these efforts to remove sanctions on doctors and patients to treat
pain and nausea with whatever medications work.

"Even more tragic is the fact that marijuana arrests in the US have more
than doubled since 1991 . an absurd waste of our criminal justice resources.

"The Cannabis Conference is a timely step in developing a more rational
drug policy in the UK and I believe it will influence the drug policy
debate in the US and beyond. For too long the debate has been onesided
dominated by those against the free exchange of ideas.With experts and
leaders from such a wide range of disciplines, I am confident your
conference will provide a model for future debates on drug policy.Very best
wishes for your campaign and I look forward to seeing many others join this
debate."

Members of the Lindesmith Centre will attend our discussion at the Queen
Elizabeth II Conference Centre on Thursday. They will be joined by 15 MPs
including Brian Iddon, Gordon Prentice and Dr Phyllis Starkey.

The conference is being supported by Richard Branson and the Virgin group,
and Anita Roddick and Body Shop. A spokesman for Body Shop said:"All the
arguments need to be put before the public and judicary and since Lord
Chief Justice Bingham called for debate, the Independent on Sunday kicked
it off, and interest has gathered, the time for that debate is now."