Wednesday 4 May 2005

Blair 'wrong on cannabis downgrade'

Tony Blair has stated that the government may have been 'wrong' to reclassify cannabis as a Class C narcotic. Worried parents were questioning his government's decision to do so and Blair himself stated that cannabis may not be as safe as people think.

The confirmation of the rethink on cannabis came as Mr Blair, leading a final push in the battleground marginal constituencies, sought to portray the Liberal Democrats as "soft on drugs", claiming they proposed that no one caught with hard drugs would be jailed.

If the Lib Dems are 'soft on drugs', they have to be commended for that IMO (though I believe the essence of modern or 'new' liberalism is a nonsense). Even still, such a statement by Blair only reinforces New Labour's tendency to be overtly illiberal.

First, they planned to abolish trial by jury in certain criminal cases, then they attempted to introduce ID cards. Granted, they've instituted the 1998 Human Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Nonetheless, in recent times, New Labour has been steadily eroding our liberties and freedoms.

I'm reiterating previous posts when I state this, but all narcotics should be legal. The consumption of narcotics is not, in itself, an act against the person or property.