Pubdate: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 Source: Sunday Times (UK) Contact: Blair's drugs tsar pledges he will not go soft on cannabis By Nicholas Rufford Home Affairs Editor THE man set to become Britain's drug tsar is to reject calls for an inquiry into the decriminalisation of soft drugs, including cannabis. In his first interview since speculation about his appointment began last weekend, Keith Hellawell, 55yearold chief constable of West Yorkshire, said decriminalisation would not work and he did not believe in it, despite calls by highprofile figures including the lord chief justice for a debate on the issue. Tony Blair is due to announce his "tsar" on Wednesday, the day after Home Office figures will reveal a sharp rise in the number of registered addicts. They show a 17% increase in a year to 43,000, raising concerns over the government's efforts to curb drug misuse. Ann Taylor, leader of the Commons and chairman of a ministerial subcommittee on drug problems, will name a second tsar, expected to be Mike Trace, head of the Rehabilitation For Addicted Prisoners Trust (Rapt). Ministers believe Trace's age midthirties and expertise in treating addicts in prison will complement Hellawell's law enforcement background; half of those who go through Trace's "drying out" programme in five prisons stay drugfree after release. Hellawell said his priority would be to "refocus" the government's antidrug policy, and to redirect the fragmented efforts of agencies working in the field. "The strategy needs revitalising; it needs a sharper focus to take it into the next century." Hellawell warned against expecting too much of the drug tsar: "We have got to be careful that we don't expect him to change the world. To achieve what we all wish to achieve will be more of an effort by everybody rather than the effort of an individual." Hellawell defended remarks he made to BBC's Panorama in 1994 in which he said he could "envisage" the legalisation of cannabis. "I was asked, 'If it was shown that legalisation of cannabis would reduce the problem, would I rule it out?' and I said I would need some convincing but I don't think we ought to close our mind to anything. That was interpreted as 'chief constable calls for legalisation'. I've never called for legalisation; I don't believe it will help at all." He said that attempts at decriminalisation in Alaska had not worked, and that the situation was "a mess" in the Netherlands, where cannabis is sold openly in drug cafes. Last week Lord Bingham, the lord chief justice, called for a debate on the legalisation of soft drugs. One of Hellawell's first jobs will be to iron out inconsistencies in the way police forces deal with cannabis possession. In areas such as Lincolnshire, pot smokers are arrested; in parts of London, they are only warned.