What should the attitude of soclalists be to drugs - particularly cannabis? Should they support or condemn the practice? Below, John Hicks presents his view. In next month's Socialist Action an opposing viewpoint will be printed.
The Misuse of Drugs Act - the legislation which in this country is directed against cannabis users - has the effect of restricting peoples' choice in the way that they spend their limited amount of free time.
Cannabis is used in a way comparabie to nicolne or alconol -or even caffeine - as a way of facilitating relaxation. The laws against the use of cannabis are accepted only because there is a widespread myth that the drug Is harmful.
SCIENTIFIC?
Every so often, the government commissions a 'scientific report' - carefully vetted before publication - which claims that cannabis 'destroys the brain', impairs sexual performance, causes 'violent psychoses or leads to the consumption of hard drugs like heroin.
But a survey carried out in 1973 by the BBC showed that 39% of people between the ages of 17 and 39 had used cannabis...If these reports are to be believed, nearly one-third of the entire population would be in a pretty bad way!
The truth of the matter is that there are no known harmful effects of the drug REPRESSION Why, then, has the government been so far unwilling to consider legalising the use of cannabis? To give a satisfactory answer to this question, it is necessary to look at the whole context of the role of repressive legislation in capitalist society.
There are in fact many laws on the statute books that are there purely and simply to ensure that vast numbers of working people 'break the law' when they take sume percy momma delivity. The anti-cannabis law, the age of consent and the notorious sus' law are all cases in point.
DEMOCRATIC RIGHT These types of law are used by the police as an excuse for harassing and intimidating people, particularly young Blacks. The drugs laws allow the police to stop and search people on the streets without any form of warrent.
Whatever might be our own personal opinions about the use ot cannabis - or for that matter alcohol, tobacco etc - as socialists we must always defend & fight for democratic rights. That is why we must give our wholehearted support to the demand 'Legalise Cannabis now'. TACTICS capital. flation soars. leavers coming onto a shrinking For many young workers, the situation in which they find themselves is becoming more and more desperate: over 50,000 people under the age of 24 have been out of work for at least one year.
This worsening unemployment situation is not simply being imposed by the government because the bosses refuse to provide jobs unless they can continue to roll in the profits. Unemployment is yet another area where the astute Mrs Thatcher and her coterie of Tory ministers can make political They know that a large pool of 'reserve labour' can have the effect of weakening the ability of those still in employment to keep the level of their real wages up as inMoreover, they can exploit the very divisions they have created -fostering the illusion that 'young people today' are 'scroungers' or "lazy'. And, coming straight from
August 80 fensive launched by the employer: mucn wider implications. STEP FORWARD Such a process did not, of course,