RUSSELL OPPOSES CANNABIS POLICY

THE Liberal Democrats have become the first main party to back the
legalisation of cannabis - despite the opposition of their MP for
Colchester.

At its spring conference in Manchester at the weekend, the party adopted as
official policy decriminalising and legalising the drug, scrapping jail
sentences for possession of any drug for personal use and the downgrading of
Ecstasy.

Colchester MP Bob Russell was the only MP who spoke against the policy and
he said: "I disagree with the conference decision. It will allow our
opponents to portray the Lib Dems as soft on drugs.

"My colleagues are as opposed to substance abuse as I am - where we disagree
is the method of dealing with the problem.

"I don't think we should have changed party policy until the all-party home
affairs select committee, of which I am a member, has finished taking
evidence on decriminalising certain drugs and reported its conclusions to
findings."

Mr Russell added: "A teenager is more likely to die from an Ecstasy overdose
than being murdered by a complete stranger. We must be careful that we are
not sending out the wrong signal to voters."

After the vote, Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said the conference
resolution - which also called for more rehabilitation facilities and
tougher sentences for people caught selling drugs near schools - was an
appropriate response to the problem.

"The party has decided that the criminal law should concentrate on the
dealers, traffickers and exploiters of drugs rather than the users who need
help and treatment," he added.

The party's home affairs spokesman, Simon Hughes, said the conference vote
to reclassify Ecstasy from a class A to class B drug recognised it was in a
different league from more dangerous substances such as heroin or crack.

Although the package is now official policy, party managers admitted that
did not mean it would necessarily feature in the party's manifesto at the
next election, saying there would not be room for every policy to be spelled
out in detail.