All: www.ukcia.org/pollaw/politics2001.php
Labour - 'Ten year plan for
tackling drugs':
http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm39/3945/strategy.htm
Conservative:
UK: Tories To Restore Hard Line On Drugs: Sunday Telegraph, 21 July 2002
UK: Tories Pledge Cannabis Rethink: BBC News, 14 July 2002
Daily Mail, 20
September 1999: "WILLIAM
HAGUE slapped down Peter Lilley last night after the
former deputy Tory leader indicated he will call for
the decriminalisation of cannabis." ... "a
spokesman for Mr Hague tried to distance the Tory
leader from the embarrassment. He said: "William's
position is perfectly clear. He is firmly opposed to
all forms of illegal drug taking. We are opposed to
the legalisation of cannabis.""
The Guardian, 9 October 2000:
"Ann Widdicombe, the shadow home secretary, was
yesterday forced to backtrack on her pledge for zero
tolerance against cannabis users after seven of her
shadow cabinet members mocked the policy by admitting
they had used the drug in their youth."
Tories clash over cannabis cafes
plan (Essex Evening Echo, 7 April 2000): "
Rayleigh MP Dr Michael Clark has branded his Tory
colleague Teresa Gorman "irresponsible"
after she spoke in favour of cannabis cafes. Mrs
Gorman, the veteran Tory MP for Billericay,has added
her name in support of a controversial Commons'
motion which would effectively legalise recreational
use of the drug in cafes across the UK."
The manifesto says: "Drugs are
now blighting even our rural communities, ruining
lives and causing a wave of other crimes like
burglary and mugging. Conservatives will give the
police new powers to crack down on drug dealers.
"Most evil of all are the drug
dealers who try to lure children into addiction. We
will give a mandatory prison sentence to dealers
convicted of selling drugs to under-16s. And, in
sentencing drug-pushers, judges will be allowed to
take into account, as an aggravating factor, any
dealing done in the vicinity of schools."
Liberal Democrat - policy paper on drugs
entitled 'Honesty, Realism, Responsibility':
http://www.libdems.org.uk/documents/policies/Policy_Papers/policypaper47.pdf
Lib
Dems Back Radical Drug Policy Reforms: BBC Web, 9
March 2002
Lib-Dems
Vote To Legalise Cannabis: Scotland on Sunday, 10
March 2002
The Liberal Democrats have voted in favour of the
legalisation of cannabis - the first main UK party to
support such a radical move.
The party's leadership had recommended
decriminalising the drug but delegates went a step
further and chose legalisation, at the spring
conference in Manchester.
They also voted for an end to
imprisonment for the possession of any illegal drug -
including heroin and cocaine - and backed the
downgrading of ecstasy from a Class A to a Class B
drug.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes
said the move was "responsible, realistic and
progressive".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1861242.stm
Plaid Cymru:
Plaid Cymru today overhauled its
drugs policy and called for the decriminalisation of
cannabis. The Welsh nationalists' annual conference
voted in favour of decriminalising the use of
cannabis for recreational and medicinal purposes.
Under the policy, the drug would be available legally
only from registered licensed premises.
Leading calls for the drug to be decriminalised,
delegate Robert Hughes (Merthyr Tydfil) said it was
wrong to label cannabis users as criminals. And he
said decriminalisation would stop cannabis users
mixing with people pushing more dangerous drugs.
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/page.cfm?objectid=11317154&method=full
Welsh Assembly:
The four key aims of Tackling Substance Misuse
in Wales are:
- CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS - to
help children, young people and adults resist
substance misuse in order to achieve their
full potential in society and to promote
sensible drinking in the context of a healthy
lifestyle.
- FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES - to protect
communities and families from anti-social and
criminal behaviour and health risks related
to substance misuse.
- TREATMENT - to enable people with
substance misuse problems to overcome them
and live healthy and fulfilling lives and in
the case of offenders, crime-free lives.
- AVAILABILITY - to stifle the
availability of illegal drugs in our streets
and inappropriate availability of other
substances.
www.wales.gov.uk/assemblydata/38E3184800095D1300003B8F00000000.html
Members welcomed the range of substances
covered by the strategy although there was
disappointment that tobacco had not been
include.
www.wales.gov.uk/assemblydata/38F445590001BF21000063F100000000.html
Scottish Nationalist: UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
Green Party:
"A realistic policy on drugs
would:
- Immediately re-legalise the
possession, trade and cultivation of cannabis.
People would be able to buy from Dutch-style
licensed coffee shops or grow their own.
- Decriminalise small-scale
possession of recreational drugs such as
ecstasy.
- Ban advertising or sponsorship
of alcohol and tobacco.
- Treat heroin addiction as a
public health rather than a criminal issue.
- Ensure immediate funding for
research into ways of halting drug addiction
without withdrawal symptoms.
- Take the drug trade out of
criminal control and place it within a
regulated and controlled legal environment."
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/leaflets/policypointers/drugs.pdf
