IN BRITAIN TODAY Drug Issue Still Smoulders

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31865, 18 December 1968, Page 7

IN BRITAIN TODAY Drug Issue Still Smoulders

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON. Dec. 17. I An authoritative I appeal for milder penalties for marijuana i smokers has stoked the smouldering issue of drugs in Britain. i The appeal came at a time when the drug, cannabis, was back on the front pages of : the nation’s daily newspapers. ; John Lennon, of Beatles : fame, and the pop singer, Georgie Fame, had joined the i ranks of those who had gone I into the dock accused of pos--1 sessing it, and the police had arrested 23 people in a series of raids and grabbed £4OOO : worth of the drug. The issue eventually reached the House of Lords, where Lady Wootton of Abinger, chairman of a Governmentappointed sub-committee inquiring into “drug dependence,” was one of the central figures. OFFICIALS ANGERED The committee's recommendations to the Government came as a bombshell —milder penalties for marijuana smokers, but stiffer ones for those people who peddle the drug. The committee did not go as far as bending do demands I from some quarters for marijuana smoking to be made legal, but its findings were enough to anger police and health officials. Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Brodie, of Scotland Yard, was a member of the committee, but dissented from its findings. Now he has written to the Home Secretary (Mr James Callaghan) opposing any drastic cut in penalties. But the committee has received strong support from 1 Dr Max Glatt, Britain’s representative of the World Health Organisation, who said: “I feel that the punishment for ■ the possession of marijuana is out. of proportion to the offence.” At present, the maximum penalties in Britain are 10 years in prison and a £lOOO fine. TEACHER’S APPEAL While the “is-it-really-so-wicked?” controversy was going on, a 24-year-old schoolteacher, Miss Stephanie Sweet, was asking the House of Lords to make a ruling on her own case—a ruling that could lead to a change in the laws if it goes in her favour. Last year, Miss Sweet let a farmhouse to some students who smoked cannabis in it. She was convicted of "being concerned in the management of premises used for cannabis smoking,” although the court accepted that she did not know what was going on there. Miss Sweet wants the Lords to quash her conviction. If they do, the Government may have to think again about a law which finds people guilty of allowing their houses to be used for “pot” smoking, even if they are not aware of it. Another episode in the drug controversy was the recent appearance in the Marylebone Police Court of the millionaire member of the Beatles group, John Lennon, aged 28. and his 34-year-old Japanese girl friend, Miss Yoko Ono, both accused of possessing cannabis. Lennon was fined £l6O, but Miss Ono was acquitted because the prosecution did not offer any evidence against her.

Lennon joined a long line of well-known people who have been fined for being in possession of cannabis, among them the Queen’s former nage boy, Sir Charles Mark Palmer, aged 26, the Ameri-can-born folk singer. Julie Felix, aged 29. and the Rolling Stones guitarist, Brian Jones, aged 26. Looking Ahead The Prime Minister (Mr Harold Wilson) presided over high-level talks at Chequers this week with the object of studying Britain’s economic targets for the next four years. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Roy Jenkins) and the Minister of Technology (Mr Anthony Wedgwood Benn) were among the seven Ministers at the conference. which was also attended by trade union leaders, including Mr Frank Cousins. The discussions were centred on a 100-page planning document containing guidelines en economic needs and resources up to 1972. A national economic plan published in 1965 was later discarded as too rigid. The present document was drawn up by the Minister of Economic Affairs (Mr Peter Shore).

The Chequers talks developed studies last week by the National Economic Development Council, a Government agency widely known as “Neddy,” and the union leaders presented forecasts of Britain’s economic prospects in 1969 by the Trades Union Congress. The political and economic atmosphere in Britain is quieter again after the tensions caused last week by rumours of ministerial resignations and demands for a coalition government. In an aftermath of last week’s jitters, the chairman of the National Savings Movement (Sir Miles Thomas) denied reports he was in cpnflict with the Government about his earlier statement describing a fall of £13,600,000 in savings as a record drop for one week. Sir Miles said he confined his comparison to the corresponding week in December; 1967. ‘Grave Threat 9 The policies of the Conservative M.P., Mr Enoch Powell, on immigrants have been described as “an evil influence on society” by Canon John Collins, precentor of St Paul’s Cathedral. He made the comment when addressing a multiracial congregation in St Chad’s Church, in Mr Powell’s, Wolverhampton constituency.]

“Mr Powell is a Christian, but it is as a politician and not as a Christian that he concerns himself with the affairs of this world,” Canon Collins said.

“He clearly supposes that religion and politics should have nothing to do with each other. As a Christian myself, I cannot see how any other Christian can so misunderstand the very nature of the faith he professes.

“I question the whole racialist outlook now associated. unfortunately, with his name. Because I think they are an evil influence on the society of Britain, I think they are a serious hindrance to the development of a just ■ and happy relationship I among the people of this l land, and I think they are a grave threat to world peace.” Mr Powell was dismissed ■ from the Conservatives’■ Shadow Cabinet earlier this year because of his state-: ments on the immigration of: coloured people. He has predicted racial violence and called for a scheme of financial aid to encourage migrants to return to their countries of origin. Oceanic Bid An adventurous British oarsman, who has hunted jaguars in South American jungles, paddled canoes hundreds of miles up Paraguayan rivers and survived two shipwrecks, is preparing for a new experience. Mr John Fairfax, who is 31, has decided on a bid to cross the Atlantic solo in a rowing boat. And if he succeeds he will be the first person to do so. Having tried his new craft in the calm waters of the Solent, he plans to set out in it next month from Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, bound for Florida. He expects to cover the 3500-mile course in three months. “I’m sure it can be done with a bit of luck,” he says. Plea To China The “Daily Mirror” has printed a front-page editorial greetings to China and advised her to order the immediate release of Reuter’s Peking correspondent, Mr Anthony Grey. “Such an act would demonstrate to the rest of the world that China has not abandoned all pretensions to civiI lised behaviour,” the newspaper said. Mr Grey has been confined to a small room in his Peking flat for 17 months. “This is blackmail of the most vicious and most cynical

kind,” the “Daily Mirror” < said, and went on to quote J one of Chairman Mao Tse- ! tung’s own “thoughts”: "Any- 1 one may point out our shortcomings. If he is right, we 1 will correct them. If what he 1 proposes will benefit the 1 people, we will act upon it.” < Embarrassing The children listened in-i tently as a Conservative M.P., < Mr Patrick McNair-Wilson, 1

conducted them through the House of Commons, emphasising the need for Britain to cut down on imports. Then one of the children produced a picture postcard of the Yeomen of the Guard outside the Commons. And it was printed in Spain. “It was most embarrassing,” said Mr McNair-Wilson, who will ask the Treasury to explain why the cards cannot be printed in Britain.