Portfolio: Justice
to regulate and I don’t know if Ofcom ment has raised this interesting question
>>
newsdigest would take a different view north of the about tackling Scotland’s relationship
border to what is happening south of the with alcohol. We can play a part in mak-
HURdLE TO gOvERnmEnT’S
border. ing sure that the promotion of alcohol
aLCOHOL PLan
“It may be that this is what it is all sales is conducted responsibly. We can be
Several elements of the Scottish
about, a scrap between Holyrood and part of the solution but only part.
Government’s plan to tackle alcohol
Westminster. I simply say whether its “We do regulate posters, magazines,
misuse could be unworkable as they do
north or south of the border, banning cinema, TV, radio, internet advertising
not fall within the remit of the Scottish
things before the watershed may make and so on. It’s only a part of the alcohol
Parliament, according to the Law Society
politicians feel good but it doesn’t actu- scene and we’re only claiming to be part
of Scotland.
ally address when kids are watching pro- of the solution,” he says.
grammes and what rules there should be In 2005, restrictions came into force
vOTES FOR PRISOnERS
about the sort of ads that they see.” banning alcohol ads from ‘associating
The Government must give prisoners
The ASA is holding a seminar today with or reflecting youth culture; encour-
the right to vote or face the possibility
on the responsible advertising of alcohol aging irresponsible or dangerous behav-
that the next general election will be
in Edinburgh’s Our Dynamic Earth enti- iour and linking alcohol with seduction
illegal under European law, according
tled Alcohol Advertising – The Right Measure? or sexual success.’
to Westminster’s influential Joint
The ASA is responsible for regulating While the ASA does enforce these
Committee on Human Rights.
advertising in print such as newspapers rules – Graham says three ads were
and magazines, broadcasting methods pulled last month after they found they
InnOCEnCE PROJECT LaUnCHEd
like TV and radio as well as online forms had violated its code – he expresses frus-
Glasgow Caledonian University has
of advertising. tration that many television shows, espe-
launched an ‘Innocence Project’
Graham says a key message for the cially soaps like Hollyoaks, which are very
aimed at helping law students gain
ASA is that restricting the advertising of popular with young people, routinely
experience of the system by having
alcohol can only ever form one part of a feature attractive and popular characters
them work with genuine clients pro
strategy to tackle problem drinking. drinking, often to excess.
bono.
“We’re concerned to find out whether Graham also says that some forms
people feel we are getting the balance of alcohol advertising, most notably the
CaLL FOR LORd advOCaTE’S
right between letting a thousand flowers sponsorship of sporting teams and com-
POwERS TO bE REFORmEd
bloom and cutting back on irresponsible petitions, like Carling does with Celtic
The Lord Advocate’s role in the Scottish
advertising where it rears its head. We and Rangers, are outwith the responsi-
Government needs to be redefined in
are very aware that the Scottish Govern- bilities of the ASA. HM
order to reduce the number of so-called
‘devolution appeals’, according to the
Law Society of Scotland.
bEyOnd THE HEadLInES
dOmESTIC vIOLEnCE agaInST mEn
Incidents of domestic violence against
CannabIS
B
arack Obama represents change. developed whereby the majority of can-
And one of the most telling shifts nabis sold in Scotland are high-strength
men have more than doubled in the last
in American public consciousness that ‘skunk’ strains grown in large batches by
nine years, with police attending more
he personifies is an increasingly relaxed south-east Asian gangs associated with
than 6,000 incidents last year in which
public attitude to drug use by politicians international criminal networks like the
men were assaulted or threatened,
in their youth. Obama said very early on, Chinese Triads.
according to a report in a Sunday
and without equivocation, that he had Former director of the Scottish
newspaper.
used cannabis and cocaine, although the Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency
latter sparingly, in his youth, and that it (SCDEA), Graeme Pearson, described
agE OF COnSEnT dEbaTE
was not a choice he’d recommend, but it the operations as being like a franchise
Children under 13 should not be
was something he’d done. chain. Private homes and warehouses
prosecuted for crimes of a sexual
“I did inhale,” Obama told a meet- are rented, according to set specifica-
nature, according to evidence given
ing of journalists in 2006, when he was tions. The same equipment is used in
to the Justice Committee by
mulling over a presidential run. “That most set ups and illegal immigrants are
Children’s Commissioner Kathleen
was the point.” used to staff the operations. Pearson says
Marshall.
Compare and contrast this with the cannabis-growing operations run by the
furore over whether Bill Clinton had Triads are the same in Vancouver and
‘FamInE SOng’ wROng SayS
smoked dope when he was at Oxford the suburbs of Sydney as they are in the
aRTIST
in the 60s. In Britain, a similar shift has west of Scotland.
One of Scotland’s leading artists,
taken place. Nobody appears overly And while the large-scale production
Peter Howson, has attacked the
concerned that Home Secretary Jacqui and distribution of cannabis is cause
elements of the Rangers support that
Smith smoked marijuana in her youth. enough for close police observation, it
taunt Celtic supporters by singing
So have we become genuinely is the involvement of the international
‘the Famine Song’. Fans have been
relaxed about the use of marijuana? Asian syndicates, and their links with
threatened with arrest if they keep
Scotland’s police forces haven’t, and for other criminal patterns that has seen
singing the song.
good reason. In recent years a trend has Scotland’s law enforcement agen- >>
56
| 17 November 2008 | Holyrood magazine |
www.holyrood.com |
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74