BLUNKETT SAVAGED ON DRUGS 'DISASTER'

David Blunkett last night faced criticism from all sides after ignoring the
Government's own former Drugs Tsar, and pressing ahead with relaxing the
law on cannabis.

The Home Secretary came under savage fire from across the political divide
after announcing that by July next year, cannabis would be reclassified
from Class B to Class C - the same as anabolic steroids and some
anti-depressants.

He was attacked from Labour's own benches, amid concern that Government
spin was leaving parents and youngsters without clear advice, while the
Tories warned of "social disaster" .

Despite withering criticism from former Drugs Tsar Keith Hellawell - who
resigned in protest at the announcement - Mr Blunkett confirmed that, in
most cases of cannabis possession, police officers would no longer arrest
people but simply "issue a warning and seize the drugs".

Mr Blunkett, backed by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, insisted that the top priority now
was tackling the Class A drugs, such as heroin and crack cocaine, which
fuelled crime.

He also signalled that in order to be credible to young people, the
Government had to distinguish between those potential killer drugs and the
less harmful cannabis.

"All controlled drugs are harmful, and will remain illegal.

"We must concentrate our efforts on the drugs that cause the most harm,
while sending a credible message to young people," said Mr Blunkett told MPs.

He announced UKP183m of extra investment over the next three years, on
treating drug abuse, and said the so-called "softly, softly" approach by
police to cannabis use in Lambeth would be rolled out across the capital.

He ruled out downgrading Ecstasy.

He also unveiled plans to boost the maximum penalty for supplying and
dealing in Class C drugs from five to 14 years, with a new focus on
targeting regional drug barons.

However, in response to a question from Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford,
about local multiple sclerosis sufferers growing or buying cannabis to ease
their condition, the Home Secretary raised hopes that the Medicines Control
Agency would soon approve the drug for medicinal use.

But even before Sheffield Brightside MP Mr Blunkett had made his statement,
Mr Hellawell yesterday revealed he had quit in protest at the move, and
condemned the new policy as just a "re-packaging, a re-spinning of the
issue, to appear as if something has been done".

The former West Yorkshire Chief Constable - appointed Drugs Tsar in a blaze
of publicity by Tony Blair in 1997 - accused the Home Secretary of pushing
through a policy which was "moving further towards decriminalisation than
any other country in the world".

And Mr Hellawell, once reputed to have earned UKP106,000 in his advisory
role, but sidelined into an unpaid two-day-a-week job by Mr Blunkett last
year, warned: "It is a softening of the law and it's giving the wrong
message. It's a personal initiative of David Blunkett. I don't know where
he got his advice from - he certainly didn't get it from me."

He also insisted that there was a link between hard and soft drugs, saying:
"Why on earth, when there are these problems, we change our message and
give a softer message, I don't know."

Government spin over the issue was "causing a great deal of problems for
parents, who just don't know where they are", he added.

The Government yesterday mounted a concerted bid to discredit Mr Hellawell,
with Mr Blunkett himself telling MPs that Mr Hellawell had originally
backed his proposal to refer the cannabis proposal to the Advisory Council.

"He changed his stand three times...I changed my mind once," said Mr
Blunkett, explaining that he had dropped his opposition to reclassifying
cannabis because he had been persuaded by the evidence.

Mr Hellawell insisted he had never backed the idea of relaxing the law on
cannabis.

A spokesman for Mr Blunkett claimed Mr Hellawell had tendered his
resignation as an unpaid advisor last month, to take effect in August, but
had asked the Home Office to keep the move private.

The Tories seized on Mr Hellawell's remarks to portray Mr Blunkett's
proposals as a political stratagem which could end in "social disaster".

Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin accused the Home Secretary of a
"muddled and dangerous policy" which would give control over cannabis to
the drug dealers "but with the police turning away".

And Labour MP and former minister Kate Hoey - whose Vauxhall constituency
is covered by the Lambeth experiment - accused Mr Blunkett of sending out
the message that "cannabis is OK".