-Caveat Lector- In this past Sunday Times of London: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/07/01/stinwenws01033.html? July 1 2001 BRITAIN Drug czar recants: cannabis use does not lead to heroin Rosie Waterhouse BRITAIN'S first drugs czar, Keith Hellawell, has softened his hard line on cannabis, saying that he no longer believes it necessarily leads on to harder drugs. In a significant U-turn the anti-drugs co-ordinator, who was sidelined by David Blunkett, the home secretary, last month, said: "I do not believe it's a gateway drug." The shift signals an end to Britain's apparent "zero tolerance" of soft drugs, coming only days after Blunkett endorsed a police experiment to let off people caught in possession of cannabis with only a warning. Until now, Hellawell and ministers have not only opposed decriminalisation but also rejected calls to downgrade possession of cannabis to a lesser offence. Last November Hellawell said that research from New Zealand had convinced him that cannabis was a gateway to more harmful drugs such as heroin and cocaine. However, last week he said: "The evidence we've got from New Zealand is that if someone smokes a joint of cannabis a week they are 60 times more likely to be involved in harder drugs than those who do not use it at that level. That is one piece of evidence. "That does not mean that everybody who smokes 50 joints a year will automatically be involved in hard drugs." Hellawell also supported the scheme in Lambeth, south London, where police will no longer arrest and caution people caught with cannabis. [Also see Focus article] Is Tony Blair turning a blind eye to cannabis? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Sunday Times, visit the Syndication website. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
