Pubdate: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 Source: The Times, London, UK http://www.thetimes.co.uk/ Contact: Drugs inquiry to steer clear of legalisation BY RICHARD FORD, HOME CORRESPONDENT AN INQUIRY into Britain's drug laws is unlikely to recommend the legalisation of illicit substances because it would prove too controversial for politicians. Members of the independent inquiry, which was set up by the Police Foundation, will put forward a number of possible changes to the law but only if there is consensus among the committee. It will then outline the implications, including the effects on international treaties and the cost to social, health and criminal justice budgets. Barry Irving, director of the foundation, said that any reform would have to attract a broad church of support. However he added: "It is really necessary to look at policy alternatives and at the implications of policy alternatives. That is not being done because everybody is skirting round it." The foundation, an independent charity, was created in 1979 to provide research on the effectiveness of policing and police relations with the community. Dr Irving, a forensic psychologist, said last night that the twoyear inquiry had been set up after the Association of Chief Police Officers called for more research into the effects of decriminalisation of drugs. The inquiry is to be headed by Viscountess Runciman of Doxford, a former chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and now chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission. Although she is not on record as having expressed any view about decriminalising drugs, she backs a more realistic approach towards dealing with them. She has admitted that containment rather than elimination of drug misuse is a more realistic objective and she supports a wider use of harm reduction measures, including the provision of water at raves where teenagers could take Ecstasy. Lady Runciman has been the key figure in attracting people to serve on the inquiry team and has previously worked with several of its members. They are Simon Jenkins, former Editor of The Times; Alan Maynard, professor of economics at York University; Leonard Murray, consultant with Levy and McRae, solicitors in Glasgow; Denis O'Connor, Assistant Commissioner for southwest London; Michael Trace, director of the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust; Rudi Forston, barrister and author of Misuse of Drugs and Drug Trafficking Offences; John Hamilton, Chief Constable of Fife; David Nutt, head of mental health psychopharmacology unit at Bristol University; Geoffrey Pearson, Wates professor of social work at Goldsmith College, London; Annette Zera, principal, Tower Hamlets College, London; Bernard Williams, Monroe Deutsch Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley.