12/10/00 - Don't go soft on drug issue: Chris writes to The Birmingham Post

Sir, - Charles Kennedy's recent comments following Ann Widdecombe's conference speech once again reveal just how soft the Liberal Democrats are on drugs. The mainstream majority of this country agrees with the sentiment of Miss Widdecombe's speech - that we need to take a far harder line on drugs - if not the detail.

Mr Kennedy has confused a reaction to a specific policy with a rejection of the anti-drugs sentiment of the majority of the electorate. He used an interview to once again say that he wanted a Royal Commission to tackle the issue and said that recreational cannabis use should be a 'civil offence'.

The Lib Dems would dearly love to call for decriminalisation in their party's manifesto but know that this would be electoral suicide. Instead they use the smoke screen of arguing for a Royal Commission.

The fact is that the Lib Dems and their Labour allies are soft on drugs. As Miss Widdecombe rightly said last week, drugs are the cancer that is eating away at our country.

CHRIS D KELLY
Tettenhall,
Wolverhampton.