A NEW RULING FROM THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE: LET'S TALK ABOUT DOPE

The country's most senior judge has called for an open debate on
decriminalising the use of cannabis.

LONDON The country's most senior judge called for an open debate on
decriminalising the use of cannabis, Our Legal Affairs Editor Patricia Wynn
Davies says Lord Bingham has reignited a controversial debate that the
Government wishes would go away.

Yesterday's statement by the Lord Chief Justice gave a significant boost to
the growing campaign for the decriminalisation of soft drugs. "It is a
subject that deserves, in my judgment, detached, objective, independent
consideration," he said.

The campaign to ditch a law which to many has been long discredited, has
been led by the Independent on Sunday and a growing number of celebrities
and public figures in the face of government hostility.

Highprofile figures, such as Sir Paul McCartney, have declared their
backing for the decriminalisation of cannabis. But the Lord Chief Justice's
support for a detailed examination of the subject is the first contribution
to the current debate from a senior member of the legal establishment.

Others backing the campaign range right across public life, and include the
authors Martin Amis and Fay Weldon, Alan Yentob, director of television at
the BBC, playwright Harold Pinter, Sir Kit McMahon, former chairman of the
Midland Bank, actor Richard Wilson, the Body Shop owner Anita Roddick and
Richard Branson.

Lord Bingham emphasised that he was not expressing a concluded view on
decriminalisation, but welcomed the recent decision by the independent
Police Foundation to mount an inquiry into the entire issue.

"It may very well be that the result of such consideration would be that to
tinker with the current prohibition would be madness, but that doesn't seem
to me an argument against considering the suggestion," he said during his
second setpiece news conference, which is now to become an annual autumn
event.

If an objective, independent study showed that existing law was 100 per
cent correct, that would reassure everybody, he said.

His remarks came less than a week after Jack Straw, the Home Secretary,
ruled out any moves towards decriminalisation of cannabis in his speech to
the Labour Party conference, and a week ahead of the appointment of the new
"drugs tsar" who will coordinate a Whitehallwide offensive to combat drug
abuse.

Tony Blair and his Government have fought shy of the subject ever since
Clare Short, now Secretary of State for International Development, dared to
speculate openly about legalising cannabis while Labour was in opposition.
Only the Liberal Democrats support a fullscale inquiry by a Royal
Commission; the study commissioned by the Police Foundation, which receives
financial backing from the Prince of Wales' Trust, has already been dubbed
the "unofficial" Royal Commission.

In the last fortnight, however, two Labour backbenchers, Paul Flynn, MP for
Newport West and Gordon Prentice, MP for Pendle, have put their heads above
the parapet and joined the campaign for decriminalisation launched by the
Independent on Sunday a fortnight ago.

Mike Goodman, of Release, the drugs advice charity, welcomed the Lord Chief
Justice's remarks. "I think it is a refreshingly candid contribution to one
of the most important debates at the moment," he said.

But Mr Straw has branded the decriminalisation lobby "irresponsible",
warning that consumption would go up, leading to high rates of absenteeism,
aggravation of mental illness and more people switching to hard drugs.

Jane Betts, the mother of Leah Betts, who died after taking ecstasy at her
18th birthday party, said: "I view with worry proposals like this because
very often the outcome is predetermined."

The Conservative home affairs spokesman, Sir Brian Mawhinney, said: "This
party does not believe that drugs should be decriminalised."

Brian Mackenzie, president of the Police Superintendents' Association, said
he opposed any move towards decriminalisation. "Any relaxation in the
attitude towards prosecuting people for the possession of drugs would be a
wrong step. It would send totally the wrong signal.

"By all means have a debate, but I think the vast majority of the public
agrees with us and is against legalisation or decriminalisation. To do so
would simply increase drugs usage and that would be a mad move."

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "More
research is always welcome in any area, but we support the Government's
policy and oppose the concept of decriminalisation."

Lord Bingham also used the press conference to welcome the Government's
decision to make the European Convention on Human Rights a part of British
law while warning of the consequences for the media. "I do think this will
lead inevitably to the development in this country of a law of privacy," he
said. But he emphasised that the convention also protected the press's
right to free speech.

"What is going to have to be confronted is the demarcation boundary between
free speech and privacy," he said. In deciding which side to come down on,
the courts would apply a test of public interest, he said.

The reporting of wrongdoing by an individual in public office would be
considered to be in the public interest and justify intrusion into their
privacy but the same would not apply to matters affecting their private
lives which did not affect their office, he said.