JUDGE QUESTIONS CANNABIS LAW

A former High Court judge has called for the legalisation of cannabis.

Lord Prosser said the sale of the drug should be controlled in the same way
as tobacco and alcohol, according to the Scotland on Sunday.

His comments came in the wake of the Crown's decision to drop their case
against 55-year-old multiple sclerosis sufferer Biz Ivol, who uses cannabis
to ease the symptoms of her condition.

Ms Ivol, of South Ronaldsay, Orkney, admitted distributing the drug in the
form of specially-prepared chocolates to be used for pain relief, but
pleaded not guilty to supplying the drug on the grounds that she believed
she was doing nothing wrong.

'Not working'

The Crown Office dropped the charges against Ms Ivol, who had threatened to
take her own life once the case was concluded, due to her failing health.

She was found unconscious by a neighbour at her home after the case
collapsed, but is now recovering in hospital.

Lord Prosser said the Government's current cannabis laws were "clearly not
working".

He said: "I have long believed that the law in its present form should be
changed.

"It should be legal to possess the drug and there should be a system of
controlled supply similar to that which exists for tobacco and alcohol."

The judge, who retired from the bench last year, added: "If a law seems to
be unenforceable then one would have to think very carefully about how to
solve the problem in other ways. "It cannot be a sound law if it does not
achieve what it was meant to achieve."

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald has also called on the Scottish Executive to
seek the public's views on whether or not they believe the cannabis laws
should be changed.

Ms MacDonald, a regional MSP for the Lothians, has lodged a motion at the
Scottish Parliament calling for on the executive to hold a public
consultation into whether people think the drug should be allowed for
medicinal purposes.

Ms MacDonald added: "Why on earth are we still forcing people like Biz Ivol
to go through the indignities and the trauma that she has had to go
through?"