Stagg urges support for legalisation of cannabis

LABOUR chief whip Emmet Stagg has claimed cannabis should be legalised so that young people are taken out of the grip of the criminals behind the drugs trade.

He urged party members to support a motion calling for the “decriminalisation, regulation and taxation of supply of marijuana/cannabis”.

Had the motion been passed, it would have created difficulty for the party leadership, which is keenly aware of the need to appear “tough on crime” at a time when gangland murders — many related to the drugs trade — are on the increase.