Strong opposition was voiced yesterday in the European Parliament to proposals for the decriminalisation of soft drugs and for hard drugs to be available on prescription. Ms Hedy d'Ancona, a former Dutch health minister, representing the Civil Liberties Committee, called for addicts to be allowed the right to receive appropriate medical treatment, even if this involved the use of hard drugs such as heroin. Mr Niall Andrews of Fianna Fail said that damage had already been done by legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco and that was devastating enough without adding cannabis and heroin. All the Community's efforts should be focused on educating young people about the obvious dangers.
Ms Nuala Ahern of the Green Party said the proposals would be a disaster. She said vulnerable people in deprived communities who turned to drugs deserved better. Successive Irish governments had an appalling record of neglect on drugs and the present one was doing no better, she said.
The former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Eric Smyth, and the international chairman of Eurad (Europe Against Drugs), Ms Grainne Kenny, were also present in Strasbourg to lobby MEPs to vote against the proposal submitted by Ms d'Ancona.
The British government yesterday rejected calls to reverse a 27-year-old ruling that outlaws the use of cannabis to relieve the suffering of the chronically sick.
A Labour MP, Mr Austin Mitchell, said many people suffering from conditions such as multiple sclerosis were defying the law because they found cannabis brought them relief from pain. The current position was also inhibiting drug companies from investigating the benefits of cannabis.