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UK's
New
"Drug
Czar"
Rejects
Legalization
of
Cannabis
12/5/97
On November 24, Keith Hellawell, Britain's first "drug czar,"
told a group of reporters in Scotland that the debate now raging in England
over the legal status of cannabis was academic. Hellawell said that the
British government would not decriminalize cannabis any time in the next
decade, nor would any other European government. Ironically, he also told
reporters that any review of the law should be "dispassionate and
objective." Hellawell admits to never having used cannabis.
David Borden, DRCNet's executive director, had this to say about Hellawell's
comments: "It's quite interesting that in the midst of the very contentious
debate that is now going on in England regarding the legal status of cannabis,
Mr. Hellawell has chosen to downplay the possibility of change. In addition,
he seems to have taken a page out of the play- book of America's 'drug
czar' by ignoring some important facts in proclaiming the strength of Prohibition.
The Netherlands has had de-facto decriminalization of cannabis for decades.
And in many other places on the continent, most notably in parts of Germany
and in Spain, cannabis possession has been largely ignored by authorities.
So while the world's political climate, and the U.S. in particular, may
keep these countries from formally "legalizing" cannabis, the
landscape in Europe is very much one of increasing reform." (Interestingly,
Dutch teens use cannabis at one of the lowest rates in Europe.)
Visit the Independent's Cannabis Decriminalization Campaign at http://www.independent.co.uk/sindypot/index.htm.
-- END --
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Issue #21, 12/5/97
British Correspondents Needed for The Week Online | Harvard Study Finds Mandatory Sentences Wasteful | Study Finds Racial Disparities in Drug Sentences in Alabama: Really? Hmm | Clinton Backs UN Drug Czar's Plan to Give Economic Aid to the Taliban in Exchange for Opium Eradication | New Hampshire Legislator Introduces Medical Marijuana, Hemp Bills: "It's time to discuss these issues" says lawmaker | Prohibition-Induced Gang Warfare on Native American Reservation: 50 shots fired between children battling over drug turf | Colombia Passes Extradition Legislation... But it Won't be Retroactive | Mexico: Gun Battle at Border Kills Guard, and Newspaper Editor Shot by Cartel. More Prohibition-related violence | UK's New "Drug Czar" Rejects Legalization of Cannabis | Quote of the Week: Mr. Hellawell should hear what was said about the possibility of repealing Alcohol Prohibition in America! | Drug Policy Institute Accepting Applications | Editorial: Supporting barbarians in the drug war
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