Pubdate: Sun, 30 Mar 2014
Source: Mail on Sunday, The (UK)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/255
Author: Glen Owen
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/khat

REBEL LIBDEM DEFIES THERESA ON DRUGS BAN

HOME SECRETARY Theresa May faced a revolt last night after one of her 
own Ministers refused to implement a drugs ban.

Liberal Democrat Drugs Minister Norman Baker is defying Mrs May's 
order to criminalise khat, a plant chewed to give users a high and 
used predominantly in East African immigrant communities.

Mr Baker - who once said cannabis was 'no more harmful than alcohol 
or tobacco' - has told Mrs May he disagrees with her plan to ban the 
substance, and flatly refused to act on it.

His rebellion has forced Mrs May to strip him of responsibility for 
enforcing the ban and give it to Organised Crime Minister Karen 
Bradley, a Tory who holds more hardline views.

Mr Baker's refusal is a demonstration of his political rift with Mrs 
May, who was said to be 'spitting tacks' at the Lib Dem's appointment 
to her department last autumn. He is distinctly to her Left on a 
number of issues, including immigration controls and 'snooping' powers.

Mrs May is planning to categorise khat as a class C drug, which would 
make its importation, possession and supply a criminal offence. She 
last week rejected calls for a rethink from the Home Affairs 
Committee, whose chair, Labour MP Keith Vaz, has spoken of chewing 
khat in the past.

It argued there was no compelling evidence the drug was harmful  and 
police would risk 'antagonism' when targeting communities which use it.

Some experts, however, have linked khat to depression, irritability, 
psychotic episodes and violence.

Last summer the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs 
also recommended that khat not be criminalised. But Mrs May has said 
her decision is based on an 'extensive consultation process'.

Mr Baker insisted last night the khat ban was not part of his 
portfolio because the decision was made before he joined the 
department. But a Lib Dem source said Mr Baker had told Mrs May 
face-to-face he opposed her decision. 'The fact that Bradley covers 
organised crime, which is sort of linked to the khat trade, was his 
getout-of-jail card,' the source said.

Despite their differences, Mr Baker's friends say that he 'gets on 
well with Mrs May on a personal level'.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom