Without proper government action, there can be no ‘war on cannabis’

SIR – Your headline states (June 19) that the war on cannabis has been “lost”.

The truth is there has been no such war. Successive governments have failed to tackle effectively organised crime, suppliers and dealers, thus allowing a drug culture to permeate an ever larger part of society.

The police and criminal justice system cannot hold the fort without robust support from government. Throwing in the towel in respect of the law on cannabis will set a very poor and potentially damaging precedent.

It is of course entirely reasonable to provide the 12-year-old Billy Caldwell with medicinal cannabis oil, which is apparently so effective in his treatment for epilepsy (report, June 20), and to review the law regarding the use of cannabis-based medications. Tim Grylls

Yelverton, Devon

SIR – I’m confused by the controversy over prescribing cannabis-based medicines. When I was a curate in Notting Hill some 50 years ago, local

doctors often prescribed tincture of cannabis.

It was a dark green liquid and was seen as a welcome standby for those addicted to opiates. Fr Bernard Garratt

Southam, Warwickshire

SIR – What William Hague does not seem to take into account in his article calling for legalisation of cannabis (Comment, June 19) is the infinity of difference between the role of products such as cannabis oil in alleviating medical conditions and its use as a recreational substance.

We have long campaigned for cannabis to be allowed as a prescribed treatment for pain relief, long-term conditions and some mental illnesses. We would, however, invite Lord Hague to visit a psychiatric ward to meet people, many of them young, who have been robbed of their mental stability and life chances by taking the drug, especially in its stronger forms such as skunk. He should also meet the heartbroken parents who have seen

the minds of their sons and daughters hijacked by its psychotic effects.

These parents have just as much right to protect the mental health of their children as parents of children with epilepsy do to fight for the medical relief cannabis can bring. Marjorie Wallace

Chief Executive, SANE London NW7

SIR – We already have a massive drug problem in this country. At this moment there are at least 1.4 million chronic alcoholics in Britain.

The Americans, who have long been concerned with alcoholism, devised the brilliant Hazelden Programme, based in Minnesota, for the treatment of addiction problems. The National Health Service was given an opportunity in the early Eighties to adopt it but refused to do so. Without such a programme in place here, it would be crazy to bring another legal drug to the market. Hilton Seely

London W14