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UK: 'Adults should be given right to decide'
Derby Telegraph Monday 23 Sep 2013 The scores of people, including some children, surrounded a gazebo set up on Bass Recreation Ground, to promote their opinion that the UK laws concerning cannabis have failed and are harmful because most of it is sold by criminal gangs. They also argue that there are a lot of medicinal uses for the plant. Adam Read, of Codnor, said he smoked cannabis because it relieved the anxiety and depression he had suffered for years. Mr Read, 43, said: "I don't do anything without first researching it. There is a lot of press propaganda around the issue – it's how the press interpret the science." He said they wanted to take cannabis supply away from the black market and for those who used cannabis to be able to access a regulated and controlled supply. "Adults should be given the right to decide if they want to smoke cannabis," said Mr Read. Two 16-year-olds at the event said they smoked cannabis every day. The teenagers, who were from Alvaston and were studying for their A-levels, said smoking cannabis made them feel happy and was "something to do". They said they did not believe it was detrimental to their studies. But Sanj Chowdhary, a representative of the drug law reform movement, said their campaign did not promote recreational use of the drug by youngsters. Mr Chowdhary, from north Derbyshire, said: "The laws governing cannabis use have failed. Not only have they failed but they have brought greater harm to precisely those who they were meant to protect. "The young and the most vulnerable in society are left to the mercy of unscrupulous criminal gangs and many of our communities are being torn apart by the violence and misery caused by them. "With all the time, money and resources spent on trying to impose a prohibition on the substance – less that 5% of the supply is disrupted, essentially giving a free rein to these gangs whilst punishing responsible users and needlessly destroying lives. We can not allow these failures to continue." Andy Beckley, 39, of Swadlincote, said he smoked a joint a day to prevent seizures and migraines that he suffered. "I was previously given medication for migraines but it made my condition worse," he explained. The protest was one of many held around the country in recent months and will culminate in a protest outside Parliament. http://m.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/story.html?aid=19832669&category=news
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