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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Letter: Cannabis is not Criminal
The Sentinel
Thursday 21 Dec 2006 Does D Wakefield (Make prison a certainty, December 14) really want us to build prisons to house the estimated three to six million cannabis users in the UK? The law on cannabis is wrong. Cannabis was used extensively around the world until the beginning of the 20th century, including famously, Queen Victoria. It was wrongly made illegal in 1928, following the Geneva Convention on Narcotic Control, a conference about concerns about opiate addiction. The Egyptian delegate raised cannabis as an issue, due to what he termed "chronic hashism" in his people. The reason was actually that cheap hemp was threatening valuable cotton exports. A committee was set up to investigate the claims, but before they could report, a second conference had included cannabis in the list of prohibited substances. The British delegate abstained, as there was no debate, and cannabis was wrongly classified as a narcotic drug, banned along with heroin, opium and cocaine, except for medical use. In 1971, the Misuse of Drugs Act withdrew cannabis as a medicine. The "burden of the system" which Mr Wakefield refers to, is actually the law itself. In nearly 80 years of cannabis prohibition, drug laws have had hardly any open debate, despite numerous Government-commissioned reports recommending reform and decriminalisation. In 2006, government advisers again called for reform of drug classification based on scientific evidence, but again their findings were ignored. Cannabis is not for youngsters, just like alcohol, tobacco or coffee, but otherwise, law-abiding adults should not be made criminals for it. Back in 1928, women finally got equal voting rights; it was illegal to be a gay man, and legal to be a racist. Sometimes the law is simply wrong, and must be changed. Cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use is a victimless crime, and should not be illegal. That is why cannabis must be removed from the Misuse of Drugs Act. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/
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