Will Britain Mirror US Move to Legalize Pot?
Allegations are floating around Great Britan that Prime Minister David Cameron wants to legalize drugs, but won’t admit it because he’s too scared of the press.
According to a report in The Independent newspaper, ex-heroin user Lord Mancroft told author Max Daly: “Cameron still thinks drugs ought to be legalized.”
Lord Mancroft also said the Prime Minister was “just too afraid of the press reaction to say so.”
This comes as Home Secretary Theresa May recently ordered a review of the way Portugal has relaxed its drugs laws.
The study will also look at the effect decriminalizing marijuana has had in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado.
Liberal Democrat Home Office minister Jeremy Browne is carrying out the investigation.
The move is in response to a Commons Home Affairs Select Committee which endorsed Portugal’s policy of replacing criminal penalties with treatment and counselling.
Theresa May said, “we must continue to listen and learn from emerging trends, new evidence and international comparators”.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said in December last year that the government should consider decriminalizing some drugs.
But a poll last month revealed that most people want laws against drugs to remain tough, with only one in seven people backing liberalization.
Britain tried softer laws on cannabis in 2004, but it proved disastrous.
The government was forced to restore the tougher laws because of the drug’s strong links with crime and mental health problems.
