NOW that the votes are safely counted, it seems that all kinds of politicians – for whom the very mention of the issue was anathema until June 8 – are keen to see a debate over the decriminalisation of cannabis.
Tory leadership hopefuls reveal their inner liberal leanings, Labour MPs allow themselves a rare mention of the real world, and even right wing Home Secretary David "Water Cannon" Blunkett calls for a relaxation of police efforts to enforce one of the most widely-flouted laws since the days of prohibition.
There is no doubt that a change of policy is urgently required: but in the run-up to the election, the Socialist Alliance in England and the Scottish Socialist Party were the most up-front advocates of legalising cannabis and decriminalising other drugs.
In Oxford East, Socialist Alliance candidate John Lister went up-front to break the taboo which had kept an issue of concern to millions of young voters shrouded in silence.
His press release, a week before the election threw down a challenge to the major parties to debate and defend their line of criminalising the use of cannabis and other widely-used recreational drugs.
"There was an instant response from the local paper, which published almost my whole press release, with supplementary comments, under the headline "I smoked pot – and enjoyed it," said John. "But none of the other candidates had the bottle to reply, or take up the issue."
Zero tolerance
While leading Tories – notably Ann Widdecombe – have in the last year flirted with the idea of a "zero tolerance" policy even for personal use of cannabis, New Labour has clung to unworkable legislation that is widely flouted every day. Surveys show that millions of young people and adults of all ages routinely make use of cannabis and other drugs, for which – because of the present repressive legislation – there is no legal source of supply.
"The point I made in the press release was very simple," says John Lister.
"As in many other towns and cities across Britain, thousands of students and other Oxford residents are liable to be branded as criminals for taking drugs which have been shown to be less harmful than tobacco and alcohol.
"So what is the point in both Labour and Tory politicians banging on about policies to reduce crime, when this one policy not only makes harmless people into criminals, but forces them to deal with real gangsters to obtain the drugs they want?"
"Everybody loses from this system – except the drug gangs. The huge profits being coined in by drug cartels hinge on the fact that these supplies are illegal. This also inflates the prices charged for the drugs on the street, and forces some abusers of hard drugs into petty crime and prostitution to finance their habit.
"The fact that even cannabis is illegal makes it even more difficult to ensure that young people who may experiment with drugs get proper advice and warnings on the potential risks they are running. The rampant growth of drug use shows how ineffective prohibition has been.
"The argument for criminalising drugs has lost all serious credibility, but it is still upheld by politicians who are hopelessly out of touch with events in the real world. The danger is that without any discussion of this issue in the Election campaign, a vote for Labour or the Tories will be interpreted as a vote for another five years of hypocrisy – and another bonanza for the drug barons.
"The Socialist Alliance is for the decriminalisation of cannabis and all drugs. This is the best way to squeeze out the gangs, control prices, regulate quality – and even raise revenue to fund accessible health facilities for people with problems of chronic drug or alcohol abuse, by taxing sales of recreational drugs."
A similar policy has long been part of the platform of the Scottish Socialist Party, which campaigns for:
Licensing the sale and production of cannabis for medical and personal use, to break the link between soft drugs and potentially lethal drugs such as heroin.
Earmarking major resources to help addicts break their heroin addiction, including an expansion of detox, rehabilitation and counselling services staffed by trained drugs workers.
Breaking the stranglehold of the criminal drug gangs by providing clean pharmaceutical heroin on prescription to those addicts who are not yet ready to come off the drug.
A radical social programme to tackle the roots of hard drug abuse, including a huge expansion of cultural and sporting facilities at community level.
In Portugal, the Left Block, equivalent to the Socialist Alliance, with two MPs, has just succeeded in changing the law to decriminalise the use of cannabis.
It is clear that the terms of the argument are beginning to move, but it is also clear that the pressure for progressive reform has to come from the left.
If the momentum is lost, we can safely predict that the small window of enlightened debate on the issue among the establishment politicians will be open for only a short period, before it slams shut again in preparation for the next election.