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UK Conservatives Pledge To Escalate Drug War

Author: Jonty Skrufff
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Sinister Conservative party leader Michael Howard is endorsing a private members' bill by anti-drug zealot Nigel Evans introducing mandatory prison sentences for drug offences, as part of his party's pre-election posturing.

According to press reports this week, the increasingly right wing opposition party are hoping their Bill will attract votes by making them appearing "tough on crime' and while they're extremely unlikely to win the next election, retain an outside chance due to Tony Blair's unpopularity. However, the Conservatives remain equally if not more distrusted and despised, and remain resolutely behind Labour in opinion polls.

Ironically, bill author Nigel Evans chatted to Muzik magazine prior to the 1997 election, which saw Tony Blair sweeping to power, and at the time was surprisingly tolerant in his attitude towards drugs.

Asked why drugs had become so popular with young people, he told Jonty Skrufff "you would expect people at that age (16-19) to be more experimental in everything they do."

"Whether it's drugs, travelling abroad, or whatever, young people's horizons have been opened up much more and they do things previous generations perhaps didn't do. Also drugs are far more available now," Evans pointed out. Even more surprisingly he also openly countenanced the possibility of legalisation.

"I do if usage continues to rise dramatically," said Evans. "If we were to reach the point where 75-80 per cent of young people are using drugs and continue to do so as they grow older, then yes, you might well find a new Parliament saying they should be decriminalised," he predicted.
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