Pubdate: Mon, 14 Feb 2000
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: Telegraph Group Limited 2000
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Author: Marie Woolf, Political Correspondent

LET'S KEEP POP MUSIC CLEAN, SAYS DRUG TSAR

TheGovernment's Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator, Keith Hellawell, has asked
record producers to stop portraying drugs as fashionable and an
everyday part of popular music culture.

He has asked them to be aware of glamorising drugs in songs and
videos. Young people were dying because of drug promotion, he said.
There have been a number of cases involving pop stars singing about
the joys of taking illegal substances.

Champagne Supernova by Oasis and Born Slippy by Underworld, used in
the film Trainspotting, have drug references. Noel Gallagher of Oasis
once said that taking drugs was as normal as having a cup of tea,
although he says he no longer takes cocaine.

"Drug Tsar" Hellawell has also written to the producers of
television's four biggest soap operas urging them to take a
responsible attitude to drugs in storylines. In an interview yesterday
on BBC's Breakfast with Frost, Mr Hellawell said: "Mums and dads are
worried to death about the messages their children are given."

He made clear that he was firmly opposed to decriminalising cannabis
and there were no plans to legalise the drug for recreational use. But
he said that most people favoured legalisation to treat medical
conditions and the Government was developing licences to test cannabis
to treat acute pain and serious illnesses.

Mr Hellawell has been criticised for signalling that cannabis had been
degraded in the fight against drugs, with top priority now being class
"A" substances. But he said those caught in possession of cannabis on
more than one occasion would face prison.
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