Chief Justice urges debate on cannabis
By Frances Gibb, Legal Correspondent

THE most senior judge in England and Wales yesterday backed calls for a
public debate on the legalisation of soft drugs such as cannabis.

Just days after Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, ruled out moves to legalise
cannabis, the Lord Chief Justice said the issue merited consideration.

Lord Bingham of Cornhill made clear at a press conference that he was not
expressing a personal view on decriminalisation of soft drugs. But he said:
"It is a subject that deserves, in my judgment, detached, objective,
independent consideration." He also welcomed the recent decision by the
independent Police Foundation to have an inquiry into the law on the misuse
of drugs.

Last night a spokesman for the Home Office reiterated Mr Straw's comments
that decriminalising cannabis would only encourage its use. The spokesman
added, however, that the Government was happy to debate the issue.

Bill Saulsbury, secretary and assistant director of the Police Foundation,
said: "We are very pleased at such authorative encouragement as the Lord
Chief Justice for the inquiry into whether the laws are still meeting the
needs for which they were framed."

Paul Cavadino, principal officer of the National Association for the Care
and Resettlement of Offenders, said: "It is very helpful for the Lord Chief
Justice to give his backing to an openminded look at whether we have got
the balance right in the resources currently spent on enforcing the law on
illegal drugs."