Cannabis Campaign: I will listen to all positive ideas, says drugs tsar

Keith Hellawell wants an open debate and refutes charges that his line has hardened

The Government's new drug tsar, Chief Constable Keith Hellawell, does not smoke, rarely takes a drink and has never been offered any illegal substance.

But Britain's anti-drugs co- ordinator insists that he is not the narrow-minded puritan his critics have made him out to be. "I like to think of myself as a liberal and fair- minded individual," said Mr Hellawell, who takes up his post as the top drugs-policy adviser in the New Year.

And last week, to demonstrate the open-handed approach he intends to bring to his new job, Mr Hellawell went as far as praising his deputy, Mike Trace, for admitting he once smoked cannabis. "I think it was noble of him, when asked a question in an interview, he gave an honest answer, and I was not at all embarrassed by his reply. I have talked about it with him and he explained he experimented with cannabis as a student. He did not like it and does not endorse any form of drug-taking now.

"For those who grew up in the late 1940s and 1950s drugs were just not an issue. But I am not a puritan: I have tried cigarettes, I started work as a coal miner, for goodness's sake", said Mr Hella- well, who abstained from alcohol for five years, and whose wife is a teetotaller.

Some drug reform campaigners have accused the new tsar of hardening his attitude towards cannabis since news of his appointment was announced last month. They point to an interview in which he is alleged to have said he could envisage the day when cannabis was legalised.

"There were a number of erroneous headlines four or five years ago that said I stood for legalising cannabis. I never said that; I said there should be a debate on the subject.

"Over the intervening years I have thought a lot about the subject, and in 1995 I initiated a debate at the Association of Chief Police Officers. The vote at that meeting was approximately 70 per cent against and 30 per cent in favour. I want to see an open debate but I cannot see that legalising cannabis would be anything other than a risk. I cannot justify that risk, especially where young people are concerned."

Mr Hellawell has a more open mind about legalising cannabis for medical reasons, but he stresses there are no short cuts, and official approval could take years. Despite pressure for a debate on law reform from Britain's two most most senior judges - the Lord Chief Justice and The Master of the Rolls - Mr Hella-well is against a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the law.

"Royal Commissions are not for single issues, but are held on the state of the nation. To my mind, the Police Foundation inquiry will cover this territory just as efficiently."

Although Mr Hellawell is still officially the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, he has already begun to take soundings on how better to deal with drugs from key agencies.

In the New Year readers will have their chance to make their views on cannabis known to the drugs tsar when we publish his e-mail and postal address.

"Anyone who wishes to offer their views will be able to do so, said Mr Hellawell. "Mike Trace and I will listen seriously to anyone who has a positive contribution to tackling this serious problem."