Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 Source: Independent (UK) Copyright: 2002 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. Contact: http://www.independent.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209 Author: Robert Sharpe SELL CANNABIS IN COFFEE SHOPS Sir: Government drugs adviser Keith Hellawell justified his resignation over a controversial proposal to reclassify cannabis by claiming "it's moving further towards decriminalisation than any other country in the world" (report, 11 July). Apparently Britain's former drug tsar is unfamiliar with the drug policies of the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, among others. His apparent ignorance regarding his alleged expertise is not an isolated incident. The emphasis on "drug-free" backgrounds as a primary hiring criteria for top-level drug policy posts in the Government is part of the problem. There is a reason many Britons prefer cannabis to gin. Anyone who has experimented with both drugs knows that alcohol is far more dangerous. Alcohol drinkers risk painful hangovers, loss of basic bodily functions, and even death. Cannabis smokers who over-indulge risk wanting to take a nap. Make no mistake, cannabis can be harmful if repeatedly abused, but criminal records are hardly appropriate health interventions. The drugs war is not a public health campaign so much as an inter-generational culture war. The conservative reactionaries who confuse cannabis with the counterculture need to come to grips with the fact that cannabis use has been mainstream for decades. ROBERT SHARPE Program Officer Drug Policy Alliance Washington DC - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens