"The First Minister said he was "very keen" that people were prosecuted. "Cannabis is illegal and nobody in Scotland should ever get the impression otherwise," he said.
His comments followed The Herald's revelation on Saturday that some police forces, in collaboration with the Crown Office, are piloting warnings for possession of cannabis worth less than £15. The arrangement has been criticised by anti-drugs campaigners, anxious that it sends out the wrong message about use of the class C drug.
Mr McConnell said he would not dictate to the police or fiscals, but wanted their actions to be "proportionate".
Being 'very keen' on prosecutions and demanding 'proportionate' action sounds to me like dictating to the police and the fiscals. (Unless, of course, the First Minister is taking a pot-shot at the Home Secretary, whose house was found to contain a small stash.) Perhaps Mr McConnell's attitude is one of the reasons for this in The Scotsman:
"MORE than one-third of lawyers believe the Scottish Executive has no respect for the independence of the legal system, according to a survey which reveals widespread disapproval of the political elite among solicitors."
Amusingly, a Scottish Executive spokeswoman does nothing to put our collective mind at ease:
"She said the Executive had worked "ceaselessly" to create a more efficient criminal justice system. "It is the duty of government to remain independent from the legal process, but also to ensure that the structures within which those processes operate are effective, fair and transparent," she said."
I am not clear how government can remain independent from the legal process, while working to create a more efficient system and ensuring that processes are effective, fair and transparent. Oh, and at the same time, being very keen on prosecuting cannabis possession. One might have thought that the First Minister had more immediate problems to confront.
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