Mowlam: Legalise cannabis and ecstasy

[bongme]

hi

19th Sunday May 2002

The Government should have the "guts" to legalise both cannabis and the dance drug ecstasy, ex-Cabinet Minister Mo Mowlam says.

 

The former Northern Ireland Secretary made her call in response to reports that the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, which has been considering drug use, is set to call for ecstasy to be downgraded to a class B drug.

"These halfway measures achieve nothing," she told BBC 1's Breakfast with Frost. "The ecstasy move, to bring it down a class, what does that do?

"It makes it more available. But it doesn't deal with the underlying problems of making sure its clean, making sure that people know how much and that water is available and how much water to drink.

"Similarly, with cannabis declassifying it .... all that does it make it easier to buy but the person you buy it off is still illegal. That is daft.

"On both of these what I would do is if they are going to move in that direction decriminalisation is a halfway measure.

"I would legalise both. Then you can regulate it, make sure its clean, how it is sold, in addition you could tax it.

"Now, if you tax cannabis and ecstasy you could use the tax take to help with the heroin and cocaine problems and the alcohol problems and the barbiturate problems."

Bongme

[diggler]

Oh, I see. Mowlam is calling for leglise. I thought she was against it or am i thinking the wrong woman MP?

--

Diggler

--

[scotweed]

I think she was always pretty liberal in her personal opinion,

But when she had some power she kept her mouth shut.

I suppose this understandable but I wish more politicians with power had the guts to open thier mouths.

It should also be noted that Mo is trying to sell her book, which incidentally is being serialized in the Daily mail of all places,