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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Charity applauds cannabis rethink
Phil Coleman News & Star, Cumbria
Tuesday 23 Oct 2001 Drugs: New Cumbria debate follows law change THE GOVERNMENT'S decision yesterday to relax the laws on cannabis was welcomed by a leading Cumbrian drugs charity today. In a House of Commons statement yesterday, Home Secretary David Blunkett confirmed that the drug now be re-classified so that pos-sessing it will no longer be an arrestable offence. In future, those caught with small amounts of cannabis will be unlikely to face a prosecution. Cannabis will be downgraded to a class C drug, putting it in the same legal category as anti-depressants and steroids. Mr Blunkett will also now recomme-nd that approval should be given for cannabis to be made available medicinal use to help ease conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The changes are already fuelling cannabis debate in Cumbria. Mr Blunkett's announcement was warmly welcomed by drugs workers in Carlisle, and by Lezley Gibson, the Alston MS sufferer who made national headlines last year when a jury refused to convict her of pos-sessing the drug after she convinced them she needed cannabis to ease her symptoms. "This is absolutely wonderful news," she said today. Family "I've never been right since my trial. My health has deteriorated and I've been worried to death that they going to keep raiding my house. I was treated as if I was some kind of violent criminal. "But it's not just the effect on me. It's affected my whole family, ruining three years of our family life.'' Last year, the county's recently retired chief constable Colin Phillips triggered a national debate on the issue when he said he would turn a blind eye to cannabis use if he encountered it at a party. Paul Brown, director of the Carlisle-based Cumbria Drug and Alcohol Advisory Service said: "This re-classification is a sensible and credible move, particularly with young people. "If this means they will not acquire a criminal record, that's a good thing." But retired Carlisle policeman David Morton and Carlisle city councillor, said he feared the softening of the law could represent a first step on a "slippery slope' towards even more liberal drugs laws. SIDEBOX: The Cannabis Debate FOR: "THIS is a big step in the right direction. Carrying cannabis should not be regarded as being any different to carrying a packet of cigarettes in your pocket. What somebody chooses to do with their own body should not be an issue. Cannabis helps people relax. Just compare that to the way peo-ple can behave after downing four or five pints. The only problem with cannabis is the legal issue for people who use it. There are also medicinal benefits of using cannabis. My wife Lezley suffers from MS and gets a lot of relief from muscle spasm and pain thanks to cannabis. It's also a great reliever of stress. People will now be able to take their medicine in the knowledge that that knock on the door is less likely to happen. People appearing in court for possessing cannabis is just ridicu-lous. It was ridiculous that people were being stopped in the street and searched on suspicion they possessed what is basically a plant. I now want to see the full legali-sation of cannabis, There should be premises where it can be sup-plied to people, along the lines of the Dutch model." *Mark Gibson, who was the Parliamentary candidate for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance in the Penrith and the Border constituency. AGAINST: "IN my view reclassifying cannabis to make it a class C drug is all but decriminalising it. It will no longer be an arrestable offence to possess it. My view about drugs is simple: if they are not using them for medicinal reasons, they should-n't be using them at all. It will mean less work for the police. But there's always a dan-ger that one drug can lead to another. If people develop a lik-ing for a particular drug, their system may eventually become immune to it, and if they no longer get a kick out of it, they may look for something stronger. The reclassification of cannabis could he the first step on a slippery slope. Where will it lead? People will be saying that amphetamine is harmless and that we should reclassify that. If cannabis is effectively legalised, it will knock the bottom out of the market, and dealers will look at pushing other drugs. It could increase the supply of harder drugs." *David Morton, Belt city councillor and retired police officer
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