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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis club chairman hits out at decision to take man with 9p worth of cannabis to court
Mid Devon Gazette Tuesday 18 Nov 2014 The Devon Cannabis Club issued a statement following the case of Christopher Saunders, 38, of Nadder Meadow in South Molton who had a quantity of the drug to the value of just nine pence. Daryl Sullivan, chair of the group said: "We were shocked to read that a 38 year old man was taken to court and given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15, all over 0.09 grams of cannabis. This can only be considered an appalling misuse of tax money, in regards to both the initial arrest and subsequent court case." "0.09 grams is a tiny amount of cannabis by anyone's standards and the fact that the police and courts deemed it worthy of arrest and a criminal record just goes to show the absurdity of the current legal status of the drug. Mr Saunders was not causing any harm to anybody by possessing this miniscule amount of cannabis and as such the charges against him constitute a completely unjust and disproportionate punishment for the 'crime' that was committed." He said getting rid of the 'cannabis caution' had been a step back in terms of how possession of the drug was policed. "If this option had still been available to the police they may well have chosen not to waste so much time and money on such a pointless and unjustified court case," he said. Mr Sullivan said many countries around the world had changed their draconian drug laws after realising the folly of such an approach. He said: "It is high time the government took note of what the evidence on drug policy tells them and moved to, at the very least, decriminalise simple drug possession. The Home Office released its own report on international drug policy on October 30 and concluded that punitive drug laws have no effect on levels of use, and that the liberalisation of drug policy in places such as Portugal and Switzerland have been successful in dealing with drug use and related issues in a way that is beneficial to public health." Last week, Mr Sullivan wrote a letter to Devon Conservative MP about drug policy following her appearance in a recent House of Commons debate on the subject. http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Cannabis-club-chairman-hits-decision-man-9p-worth/story-24551361-detail/story.html
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