Tony Banks
(1945)
UK member of parliament
November 2001 - Former UK ministers urge cannabis legalisation
Ananova reports that former Conservative Cabinet Minister, Peter Lilley, told the House of Commons the government's moves to reclassify cannabis do not go far enough.
In a debate on drugs strategy, he said that there is little evidence it poses more than a minor risk to health.
Former Labour Sports Minister Tony Banks has blamed Prime Minister Tony Blair for the government's failure to go further on drugs reform.
Tony Banks told the Commons: 'I don't feel the government is going anywhere near far enough. I think they are still trying to hold the line. I believe it is probably the reluctance of the Prime Minister.
'I don't know what Mr Blair did at university. But he clearly didn't get up to any naughty things whatsoever and we're all glad for that.'
Of Home Secretary David Blunkett's proposal to take a softer line on cannabis use, Tony Banks said he welcomed what he described as the small and timid step forward but urged ministers to go further.
Both Tony Banks and Peter Lilley took issue with the claim that cannabis was a 'gateway' drug, leading users to experiment with harder drugs.
'That's the reverse of the truth. In fact it is making the supply and possession of cannabis criminal that drives people through the gates of the law into the illegal world where they can and must acquire their supplies from people who also push heroin and cocaine and other hard drugs,' said Peter Lilley.
He proposed that cannabis should be sold through licensed outlets, which did not sell alcohol or tobacco, which carried health warnings and which must be closed if there was any suspicion of selling hard drugs.
Full story at Ananova
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