Outrage at plan to change drug law

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hi

This is Scotland

22nd May Wed 2002

Jason beattie Chief Political Correspondent

AN ALL-PARTY group of MPs has paved the way for the most far-reaching overhaul of Britain’s drug policy for a generation, backing plans to reclassify cannabis and calling on the government to end its hardline approach to prevention in favour of controversial treatment programmes.

The highly-contentious report, published today by the Home Affairs Select Committee, also recommends the downgrading of ecstasy to a Class B substance and advocates the setting up of authorised "injecting houses" for heroin users.

However, the committee drew the line at legalising cannabis, unanimously stating there was no case for decriminalisation.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, is expected to cite the majority of the report’s recommendations later this year when he confirms plans to downgrade cannabis to a Class C drug as part of a major shake-up of Labour’s drug policies.

In its report, backed by all but one member, Angela Watkinson, a Conservative MP, the committee argues that the government should focus resources on the core 250,000 "problematic" users of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin rather than those whose "drug use poses no serious threat either to their own well-being or to that of others".

In addition to setting up "shooting galleries", the MPs call for a pilot scheme allowing family GPs to hand out heroin on prescription and new laws to permit pharmacists the right to dispense methadone or other forms of heroin substitute.

In its most controversial recommendation, the committee backs the Police Federation by suggesting ecstasy should be downgraded from a Class A to a Class B substance.

Although it rejects claims that the reclassification equated to condoning the use of ecstasy, the MPs noted that drug use was a "passing phase" for many young people which rarely caused long-term harm.

The recommendation provoked an angry response from Janet Betts, whose daughter, Leah, died in 1995 after taking ecstasy at her 18th birthday party.

Mrs Betts said the committee was "totally misinformed".

She added: "The Prime Minister gave me a guarantee last November that David Blunkett had specifically ruled out downgrading ecstasy, and I hope Mr Blair has the balls to stick by that."

The committee rules out the decriminalisation of drugs, although it acknowledged the day may come when the balance is tipped in favour of legalisation.

In an initial response to the report, Mr Blunkett ruled out categorically the reclassification of ecstasy, but said he welcomed the committee’s emphasis on the need to concentrate on education and harm reduction.

"I will be making a detailed response to the report after thorough consideration before the summer recess, when I will be publishing our updated policy programme on the whole area of tackling trafficking, dealing, harm minimalisation, addiction and reclassification of cannabis," he said.

Introducing the report, Chris Mullin, the Labour chairman of the committee, said that the priorities should be realistic education, readily available treatment and harm reduction.

"Above all, we need to focus on that relatively small minority of drug users who are making a misery of their own lives and those of others," he said. "The criminal law should be reserved primarily for dealers."

But committee member Ms Watkinson, the Conservative MP for Upminster, distanced herself from her colleagues’ conclusions, saying the whole tone of the report would encourage greater drug use.

"I think it gives out entirely the wrong message. The whole tone is making harm reduction the priority when the priority should be prevention," she said.

"I’m extremely concerned about downgrading ecstasy. The message is it’s okay to try it. The number of deaths from ecstasy - which I think is 15 a year - is dismissed as only a few, but it is 15 too many. "

But her Tory colleague on the committee, David Cameron, 35, backed the recommendations, saying: "Drugs policy in this country has been failing for decades. I hope that our report will encourage fresh thinking and a new approach. We need to get away from entrenched positions and try to reduce the harm that drugs do both to users and society at large."

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman, expressed disappointment that the committee had not backed suggestions to decriminalise cannabis.

"Concentrating resources on dealing with the regular, problematic drug users is sensible, and so the proposals for more or better treatment units for cocaine, heroin and crack users are welcome and need urgent implementation," he said.  

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