Letter: Addict's progress

Thursday 19 August 1999 23:02 BST

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Sir: Charles Kennedy ought not to be calling for another Royal Commission on cannabis and drugs ("Kennedy: Cannabis must not be taboo", 16 August). He should be asking what right the law has to stop people using a beneficial plant to ease their sufferings or lift their spirits.

Under the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a person is allowed to practise his or her beliefs. The criteria which allow the law to interfere with human rights are clearly specified: when the action interferes with the rights of others, or threatens public order, morals or health.

The smoking, use and cultivation of cannabis poses no threats. That much is clear from the expert opinions expressed in the many official studies on cannabis already published. My question is: will Mr Kennedy now lead the Liberal Democrat Party in the fight to protect human rights - all of them.

ALUN BUFFRY

Legalise Cannabis Alliance

Norwich

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