DRUG laws will be catapulted to the forefront of the Holyrood hustings with the decision of the cult publisher who discovered Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh to stand for the Scottish Socialist Party, writes Robbie Dinwoodie, Scottish Political Correspondent.
Mr Kevin Williamson is to be the SSP candidate in Edinburgh Central and with former Leith MP Ron Brown is expected to top the party's regional list in the Lothians.
He will call for the legalisation of cannabis and the decriminalisation of all other listed drugs, including heroin, which he will argue should be provided free by doctors to those who have become dependent on them. Mr Williamson is the founder and publisher of the magazine Rebel Inc, later subsumed as an imprint of Canongate Publishing. He was instrumental in promoting Mr Welsh who is now rumoured to be bankrolling the efforts of the SSP to achieve a breakthrough next May.
Confirming both the candidacy and the intention to put the liberalisation of drugs laws at its heart, SSP convener Tommy Sheridan said: ''The criminalisation of cannabis use is a complete nonsense.
''We don't promote drug abuse, either of illegal or legal substances, but we oppose criminalisation of those who consume hash. We believe the silent majority will agree that it is stupid to carry on as we are at present.''
Mr Williamson said: ''We are putting forward a policy based on a complete look at all the drug laws. When it comes to a General Election or a Scottish Parliament election not another party will mention drugs other than to pay lip-service to law and order.''
Mr Williamson is preparing a paper for his party on the subject in which he will argue for a policy based on education, harm reduction, and the initial legalisation of cannabis. ''We would be neither a pro-drugs nor anti-drugs party, simply realistic and practical,'' he said
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