The scandal of skunk

It seems the UK has gone skunk crazy. There's been a massive media campaign which has hyped up fears of skunk to the point that we're scared of our own shadows. Gordon Brown is planning to re-classify cannabis up to a class B drug. This decision totally ignores the recommendations to be published today by the government's scientific experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, that cannabis should remain class C. Why have an Advisory Council of experts if your not going to heed their advice?

In a statement last week Gordon Brown described Cannabis as a gateway drug and that reclassification was needed to "send a message to young people that it was unacceptable".

One of the reasons that the Advisory Council found that Cannabis should remain at class C, was that raising the classification, and therefore the penalties, would not stop people from using it. In fact it places Cannabis even more firmly in the hands of criminal gangs. If Gordon Brown really wanted to make sure it couldn't be used as a gateway drug by youngsters, he should have decriminalised it totally. By having it tightly controlled and on sale in only licensed premises, he would have taken it from the organised crime gangs, and therefore also taken the Cannabis smokers out of that world too, it couldn't possibly 'lead on' to something else then. Another plus is that the strength of the Cannabis being sold could also be controlled, with different types from weak to stronger being offered for sale, as in Amsterdam, giving the smoker the choice and information to go along with it.

No Gordon, I'm afraid your petty excuses won't wash. So what's the real reason that this reclassification is going ahead?

Honesty:The best policy?

Nick Clegg, the new Liberal Democrat leader was recently interviewed by GQ magazine, obviously an attempt to raise his profile in the "right" circles. While admitting he'd had "no more than thirty" lovers in his life, he point blank refused to answer whether he'd ever smoked a joint.
Likewise, David Cameron, the Conservative leader admits to membership of the Bullingdon Club, famous for smashing up top class restaurants. But clams up when asked about any drug linked exploits, even failing to deny claims in a biography that he came close to being expelled from Eton for using cannabis.
Nick Clegg is well known for calling for honesty in politics, but only as much as he is comfortable with it seems. Do politicians think it is better to say nothing when confronted? That we will all forget in time, if they look at their shoe's every time they're asked?

For me this question should have two possible responses from anybody who has ever partaken, starting either- Yes I have tried it, but regret it..., or, Yes I have tried it, and don't regret it...

On the other hand I applaud Boris Johnson, Henley MP and Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. Interviewed on Friday he admitted to both snorting coke and smoking ganja, saying that "The stuff you and I may have smoked is not the same as the kid's are having now. I think skunk and this stuff is very, very dangerous......I thoroughly disagree with drugs. I don't want my kids having drugs."
Surely it's far better to openly admit to your actions and give your reasons why they are mistakes, that you now regret. This would give the public correct information, allowing them to make their own informed decisions.

I hope this takes precedent in the world of politics and other MPs follow suite.

What do you think, is honesty the best policy?