Spliffs v booze

Tony Blair softens his position on pot

Special report: Tony Blair
Special report: drugs in Britain
Special report: New Labour in power

Leader
guardian.co.uk, Monday 16 October 2000 02.02 BST

A welcome softening of the government's hard line on drugs was made at the week-end. Tony Blair made two changes of tack in his interview with John Humphrys on Radio 4's Today programme. First he lifted his party's ludicrous ban on ministerial confessions - his public health minister, Yvette Cooper, had sensibly already ignored it by admitting on Any Questions that she had taken cannabis as a student. Second, and more important, he finally recognised his own hard line against drugs may not be the same as other parents'.

Asked whether he would prefer his children to "get drunk" or have "the odd spliff", the prime minister replied: "I really would prefer my children to have nothing to do with drugs at all and I think most - maybe, I don't know, I am wrong in this and other parents feel differently - but that is how I feel."

That last statement contains a glaring misconception. The prime minister clearly believes our hardline laws against cannabis help deter young people from using the drug. They don't. We certainly have the most stringent laws in Europe but, as British drug treatment specialists have argued for years, they have not deterred the young, only criminalised them. Ironically, we have the highest number of young users in Europe. In Holland, where cannabis is openly available in cafes under its liberal, decriminalised system, not only do fewer young people take cannabis but there is more success too in controlling hard drugs.

As for public perceptions, a Mori poll in the Mail on Sunday yesterday shows an overwhelming majority now accepts that cannabis should be decriminalised. Almost six out of 10 think the personal use of cannabis should no longer be treated as a criminal offence - with less than a third against. Calls yesterday for a royal commission were misplaced. We have already had one: the Police Foundation's national commission which reported in March. What we want now is action.