|
|
| Tory Modernisers Move Towards Legalising Cannabis |
|
Posted by FoM on July 06, 2001 at 11:34:55 PT By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent Source: Independent 
The legalisation of cannabis has joined the euro as central issues of the Tory leadership contest. Michael Portillo hinted last night that he might drop the Conservatives' opposition to the legalisation of the drug, while former minister Peter Lilley has said that it should be sold through government-licensed outlets.Speaking during a television debate between the five Conservative leadership candidates, Mr Portillo said the argument was "finely balanced" and promised "yes, under me, we would consider this question". He added: "Actually I have not reached a position on this." Mr Lilley argues in an article for the Daily Telegraph that the current law on cannabis is unenforcable, because it is indefensible, and that "the alleged health risks have been exaggerated". "The key objective of reforming the cannabis laws should surely be to break that contact between soft drug users and the criminals who push hard drugs," he said. The question of whether cannabis should be legalised is likely to become a central issue in the Tory leadership contest, help define the candidates as modernisers or traditionalists. The four other candidates David Davis, Michael Ancram, Iain Duncan Smith and Kenneth Clarke all insisted on Thursday night's television programme that they would not legalise the drug. The issue was a rare moment of disagreement between the five men during the hour-long BBC Question Time Special, recorded in London in front of an invited audience of Tory supporters and party members, as well as voters who switched allegiance to Labour and Liberal Democrat. The candidates also clashed on the euro. Kenneth Clarke, the only contender to support joining the single currency, accused his colleagues of destroying the party's prospects over the issue. He said: "I spent the election like a Trappist monk, the nearest imitation I have ever given to a Trappist monk, not actually talking about it, whilst my colleagues were destroying the party by making 'Save the Pound' the key element in an election campaign against a Government which was unpopular on just about every other issue you could think of." Mr Portillo said the Conservatives had become "the pub bore on this subject", and appealed for the party to start debating a wider range of issues, notably the state of the public services. He said: "We have reached the stage in the Conservative Party where, if we had a week's party conference, and in that week we had 10 minutes of row about the euro, the rest of the week would be wasted. We would not be reported for anything else that we said. "We really have to go through a conference soon, this October, in which we don't talk about this subject, so that people may then hear us talking about all the other subjects." Source: Independent (UK) Related Articles: Lilley Calls For Soft Drug Legalisation Mowlam Says Legalisation of Cannabis Could Help Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Comment #5 posted by Anonymous on July 06, 2001 at 16:06:29 PT |
| kapt. you are oh so very correct. The Tories believe in one thing and one thing only - getting back into power. They have NO intentions whatsoever of proposing legalization. The legalization movement in the UK is moving along nicely WITHOUT the buggers. It is my hope that forward thinking British will not fall for this cynical and obvious ruse. [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on July 06, 2001 at 13:32:42 PT:
|
| It would be truly, incredibly ironic: just last November, Tory Ann Widdecombe practically committed political hara-kiri by making an incredibly harsh and benighted speech concerning what she'd like to do to cannabis consumers. Which evidently honked off a lot of people in her own party, and for excellent reason: a few days later it was revealed that at least ten of the Tory top leadership were no strangers to Lady Cannabia. Hypocrisy, thy name is Tory. And now the Tories want to seem 'reasonable'? Ah-hem. Mr. Portillo has already signalled his tepid support for something I believe he would just as soon drop in the trashbin as soon as he's elected - rather like Georgie Too. Bite on this particularly untrustworthy and unwholsome looking bait, and you deserve what you get. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by TroutMask on July 06, 2001 at 13:23:23 PT |
| Barring any sudden discovery that using marijuana leads to immediate death, I'd say we've won the War Against the War Against Marijuana in Britain! -TM [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 06, 2001 at 12:30:04 PT |
| Should Cannabis Be Legalised? Yes - 87.27% No - 12.73% 5601 Votes Cast [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 06, 2001 at 12:27:40 PT |
Vote: Should Cannabis Be Legalised? http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/newsid_1425000/1425693.stm [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |