Pubdate: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 Source: Guardian (UK) Author: Lucy Ward, Political Correspondent Pubdate: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 Contact: LORDS DEFY STRAW OVER CANNABIS The House of Lords is to launch an inquiry into the case for decriminalising cannabis, reigniting debate on the issue in the face of pledges by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to retain the ban. In a move underlining the continuing capacity of peers to embarrass the Government, the respected Lords science and technology select committee unveiled plans to examine the case for continuing to outlaw cannabis for medical and recreational use. Peers will take evidence from March until July and publish a report on their findings in October. Lord Perry of Walton, chairman of the sub-committee holding the inquiry, last night said he and fellow members had an open mind on the issue. The committee would call for factual scientific evidence and reject 'sociological prejudice'. The decision to hold the inquiry, emerging the day after peers inflicted a defeat on the Government over newspaper price wars, underlines the willingness of the Lords to examine issues considered too politically sensitive to be handled in the Commons. Committees of peers are seen to have greater freedom to confront controversial topics with less pressure to avoid embarrassing the Government than their colleagues in the Commons. Peers were influenced by a combination of increasing public debate on the matter and by the findings of a report by the British Medical Association which last autumn recommended the legalisation of cannabis-based drugs for medicinal use. The timing of the inquiry is particularly awkward for the Government as it comes less than two months after Mr Straw's son William was accused in a tabloid newspaper of selling cannabis to two undercover reporters. Mr Straw stood by his son over the claims, but reiterated his firm belief that the drug should remain illegal. Pressure for a liberalisation of the law has been gathering momentum. Labour campaigners led by the MP for Newport West, Paul Flynn, have called for the setting up of a royal commission to look into the question. Last week, national figures published by the Home Office suggested police in England and Wales are increasingly cautioning rather than prosecuting those arrested for possessing cannabis. Mr Flynn last night claimed the Lords inquiry reflected a shift in public opinion in favour of decriminalisation. He said: "The Lords will examine this issue objectively and with scientific expertise. They will hear evidence sensibly, free from the prejudice and ignorance that informs the national debate." The decision to examine the case for decriminalising cannabis was taken by the full science and technology select committee, which has the power to decide its own areas of inquiry. Lord Perry, a former professor of pharmacology and a fellow of the Open University, last night said the committee would seek to examine only the scientific arguments. "Of course it is going to be tricky, but when you are talking about scientific evidence you are talking about real evidence, not sociological prejudice. "I don't think there is any preconceived notion that we will come out one way or the other. This was simply a thing that was thought to be worthy of scientific study." The Government has no obligation to take note of reports published by House of Lords select committees, but in practice it will have to acknowledge the findings of an independent and respected group of peers. A Home Office spokesman last night reinforced Mr Straw's tough line. "It has been the Government's repeated stance that they have no intention of changing the law on cannabis, which is in line with the United Nations convention on drug control. While the Government is always interested in informal debate on these sort of subjects, it has made clear its position."