Pubdate: Mon, 15 Aug 2005
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent

LIB DEM LEADER IN BRUSSELS CALLS FOR ALL HARD DRUGS TO BE LEGALISED

All drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine should be legalised and
sold publicly, a leading Liberal Democrats has said.

Chris Davies, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European
Parliament, believes the only way to stop the criminal drugs trade is
to legalise all forms of drugs and arrange for them to be sold legally.

The MEP said selling drugs under a regulated regime is the only way to
beat the traffickers and stop billions of pounds reaching the "pockets
of criminals and funding terrorist activities".

His remarks are bound to embarrass the party leadership, which opposes
legalising hard drugs but faced awkward questions about its drugs
policy during the general election.

The leader of the party's Euro MPs has accused politicians of ignoring
the problem of drug abuse and says drastic action must now be taken to
prevent the rise in drug addiction, and resulting criminal behaviour.

He said only "a legally regulated market in drugs like cannabis and
heroin could reduce crime affecting society".

"The debate now should be about how to destroy the criminal trade by
providing the regulated legal sources while discouraging giving the
impression that it would create a green light for drugs use," he said.

A recent report by Lord Birt, the Prime Minister's "blue-skies
thinker", found there are almost 300,000 drug users who commit crimes
to feed their habit in the UK. The cost of that criminality is A?16bn
a year - or A?24bn if the costs to the nation's health and "social
functioning harms" are added.

The report estimated three million people in the UK use illegal drugs,
and 749 people die annually from heroin and methadone use.

Writing in the Brussels magazine, The Sprout, Mr Davies argues that,
by selling drugs off the shelf, you could ensure that pure drugs,
rather than contaminated drugs, would reach the market.

He said details have yet to be worked out but that the Dutch model,
where cannabis is available for purchase, had not led to an increase
in cannabis use.

The party tried to distance itself from the view. "This is certainly
not party policy," said a spokesman.
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MAP posted-by: Derek