CONFUSION ON DRUGS

You could hardly wish for a clearer example of the complete muddle that
underlies government drugs policy than the home secretary's latest
contribution (Skunk cannabis may be reclassified, May 19). Charles Clarke
wants the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs to consider harsher
penalties for the new and more powerful strains of marijuana because of
their alleged implication in mental illness.

As long as the government insists on keeping these drugs illegal, their
production and distribution is handed over to the black market where the
consumer has no way of knowing the strength of the drugs that are on sale.
All black-market buyers are blind, because there is no testing, no
monitoring, no labelling. Would the home secretary approve of pubs selling
alcohol in masked bottles, so that drinkers could not tell whether they
were buying alcohol-free beer or real ale? Why not strip the labels off
medicine packets, while he is about it.

If there really is evidence that the new strains of marijuana carry new
dangers, it is more important than ever that the entire market is made
legal, so that the 3.2 million people in this country who use it have some
chance of knowing what they are smoking. Clarke's idea can only increase
any risk to health.

Nick Davies, London