IT MIGHT surprise J Tonge of Little Lever (BEN, October 9) and others, to know that I do not condone the misuse of drugs, licit, illicit, prescription or over-the-counter drugs, and that includes cannabis.

I have spent a great deal of time as a politician talking to all kinds of groups of people, including many young people in schools and universities about drugs, and I go to great lengths to point out the harm that they do.

I don't know how J Tonge has reached the opinion that the debate the other evening at Rivington Barn was also about fluoride. It wasn't, that is quite a separate debate. I am sending a copy of the full debate to him, and will send a copy to any other interested party.

I haven't seen the evidence issued by my "own party", to which he referred, that more than 20 per cent of drivers have been shown by breathalyser tests to have caused accidents through the smoking of cannabis.

While I agree that the misuse of drugs, especially alcohol, causes motoring accidents, and I do not condone driving under the influence of any drug that might affect the functioning of the brain, I should point out that drug testing is a highly controversial subject. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drugs Misuse, of which I am the Chairman, is about to begin an investigation into drug testing -- at the roadside, at work, and in school.

Cannabis is stored in the fatty tissues of the body for up to 30 days, and can be detected in the blood and urine as it is slowly released. However, smoking one joint will produce a psychoactive response for only a few hours. These facts lead to the possibility of cannabis users being tested positive several days after use of cannabis when it is no longer affecting driving behaviour!

I welcome the fact that more people are now debating drugs misuse, and I congratulated the Rotarians the other evening for organising what was an excellent debate. There were 52 people against the motion to legalise cannabis at the beginning of the debate, and 76 people against; the rest were undecided or abstained. At the end of the evening 67 people were in favour and 77 people against, so, while I lost the debate, a significant number of people moved in favour after listening to the facts.

By Dr Brian Iddon

MP for Bolton South East