Greens sell drugs books online

THE GREEN Party's liberal drugs policies came under strong attack from the Government last night after news emerged that it was selling cannabis-growing guides and Ecstasy-testing kits on the Internet.

As the party's annual conference opens in Southport today, ministers seized on the contents of its official website as proof of its "dangerous" approach to legalisation.

Labour MPs called for a police inquiry into the website, which sells an array of books such as The Guide to Growing Ganja in Cool Climates and Potology: The Science and Sociology of Pot. The site also promotes an "e-testing kit" that checks the quality of supplies of Ecstasy tablets.

The site states that party policy is to allow the public to grow cannabis for both recreational and medicinal purposes. "We are also in favour of the Dutch coffee shop system of distribution," the website reads. The Greens have two MEPs, 38 councillors on 19 different councils across England and Wales.

Last night Mike O'Brien, Home Office minister with responsibility for drugs policy, condemned the Greens. "The Green Party are totally out of touch with reality. Drugs damage children and communities," he said.

Andy Spring, a member of the Green Party's national executive, attacked the other parties' "hypocrisy". He told The Independent: "The dishonesty of the other parties is what is damaging. People involved in the law, medicine and other fields have all concluded that we need an open debate about drugs."