cannabisnews.com: Blair: Keep Marijuana Illegal Blair: Keep Marijuana Illegal Posted by FoM on October 14, 2000 at 06:40:10 PT By The Associated Press Source: Las Vegas SUN Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped gingerly into Britain's debate over marijuana, saying the drug should remain illegal. But the prime minister, who was speaking to the British Broadcasting Corp., was careful not to criticize politicians from the opposition Conservative Party who admitted last week that they had smoked the drug as a youth."I think what is important is not what happened on some university campus years ago in respect of particular ministers or particular opposition spokesmen," Blair said from the coastal French resort of Biarritz, where he is attending a European Union summit. "What is important is making sure we fight organized crime and the drugs trade, which is exactly what we are doing," he said.The Conservative Party inadvertently sparked a debate over marijuana after the Tories' justice minister, Ann Widdecombe, announced a "zero tolerance" policy toward the drug at the party's annual conference two weeks ago -- a moved aimed to underline the Conservative's law-and-order stance.Under Tory plans, someone caught possessing any amount of marijuana would face a mandatory $145 fine for a first offense.Senior Tories immediately rounded on the hardline position, with eight admitting that they had once smoked the drug. Police officials described the policy as unworkable.The debate forced Tory party leader William Hague into a retreat. He said the policy would be reconsidered in consultation with police and other experts.Blair's ruling Labor party has largely stayed out of the debate, with most ministers refusing to comment on whether they ever experimented with marijuana.But on Friday, Yvette Cooper, the minister for public health, became the first government minister since the debate was reignited to admit smoking the drug. Last year, the party's popular Cabinet Minster Mo Mowlam admitted trying the drug as a student in the early 70s."I did try cannabis while at university, like a lot of students at that time, and it is something that I have left, you know, behind and it was several years ago," Cooper told the BBC.Blair told the BBC that he believed Britons were more interested in government efforts to stop the spread of drugs than in which politicians have or have not smoked marijuana. He said that his government remained committed to fighting drugs, adding that he thought decriminalizing marijuana would harm police efforts to tackle other drugs.But Blair denied that his party had ordered government ministers not to add to the latest round of political confessions by revealing any youthful experience with marijuana."It is up to people to do what they want to do but I think it is important that we concentrate on the issue which I think will be of much greater interest to the public," Blair said.Published: October 14, 2000 © 1996 - 2000 Las Vegas Sun, Inc.Related Articles:Campaign To Legalize Marijuana Use in Britain http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7303.shtmlTories Fail Tough Test on Drugshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7302.shtmlTop British Tories Admit Soft Drug Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7290.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by EdC on October 15, 2000 at 06:19:03 PT: Blair's logic Decrimilizing marijuana would harm police efforts to tackle other drugs? How? There would be one less "drug" to worry about. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by ras james on October 14, 2000 at 14:52:14 PT blairney cannabis sativa is the sacred "tree of life" for the rastaman. as bob marley said, "rasta is the future." the I-man says, "the future is now." GIVE ALL PRAISE AND THANKS TO JAH RASTAFAR-I. THE CONQUERING LION SHALL BREAK EVERY CHAIN. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on October 14, 2000 at 11:06:00 PT: Hand Mr. Blair a shovel, someone If he's bound and determined to dig his own political grave, let him have at it.This business of blatant hypocrisy has gone on for far too many years without the perpetrators being called out for it. Mr. Blair's law 'n' order wonk, Mr. Straw, has had a first hand taste of the absurdity of it all; his own son gets picked up on cannabis charges, and he gets off relatively easy. But it serves to illustrate a point the antis simply WILL NOT look at, WILL NOT listen to, no matter how reasonably presented: when a scion of a big-shot pol is tempted to deal, then the game is over. Because when the supposed 'elite' have been corrupted, then what sense is there in continuing the farce?If the media of both countries weren't so craven and timid, and held these pols to merciless, unrelenting criticism for their obvious hypocrisy, this war would have been over with long ago. But things are slowly changing, and the media are starting to realize they can take legitimate critical jabs at pols and not suffer the kind of opprobrium they used to. It remains to be seen whether they will do enough of it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by max on October 14, 2000 at 11:04:56 PT: he scares me Is it just me or does klintons little brother make you real uneasy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Thomas on October 14, 2000 at 10:01:26 PT Justified?? "He said that his government remained committed to fighting drugs, adding that he thought decriminalizing marijuana would harm police efforts to tackle other drugs."I don't quite get Blair's logic on this statement. One, however, can never justify punishing an innocent group of people by stating that the end justifies the means. I thought democratic thinking ran deeper in England, but apparantly that is not always the case. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on October 14, 2000 at 09:41:59 PT Ha Ha As if it's some bad idea from a long time ago, these guys crack me up.Maybe these guys should go to church confession and admit they smoked a plant, ha ha. Maybe they should drink to it. Ignorance could be bliss if only the laws governing it didn't hurt people. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on October 14, 2000 at 07:08:57 PT: Tony Blair, Klinton Klone I fail to see why the PM chooses to emulate one of the most misguided policies of his counterpart in Washington. I thought him a smarter chap. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: