TAGGED CANNABIS
MAN TO BE FREED
Source: The
Argus, Worthing, UK
Pub Date:
Wednesday, 18 February 2004
URL: http://www.thisisworthing.co.uk/worthing/archive/2004/02/18/NEWS140ZM.htmlCited: Legalise Cannabis Alliance
TAGGED CANNABIS
MAN TO BE FREED
Cannabis campaigner
Chris Baldwin has been told he will leave jail four-and-a-half months early.
Mr Baldwin is
due to be released from prison with an electronic tag on Tuesday after serving
46 days of a six-month sentence for drug offences.
He was jailed on
January 9 after being convicted of allowing cannabis to be used at a property,
having cannabis with intent to supply and having cannabis at Dutch-style coffee
shops in Worthing.
Pro-cannabis
campaigners protested against the decision to jail him.
He has been serving
his time at High Down prison, near Sutton, Surrey.
Mr Baldwin, 53,
said: "I have received 201 letters and cards.
"I am
absolutely staggered by people's kindness and support.
"Thanks to
all who are keeping me warm in my cell. My love and respect to you all.
"This
experience has not dampened my spirit. If anything, it has made me more
determined to fight on."
Don Barnard, of
the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, said: "This is great news. I'm sure Chris
will be given a good welcome home when he gets back to Worthing."
The Argus
revealed last week how Mr Baldwin complained after being taken on a 120-mile
trip from High Down to Ford Open Prison, near Arundel, then back again.
The Prison Service is investigating his
complaints about a lack of suitable facilities for disabled prisoners.
Mr Baldwin, of Carnegie Close, Worthing, suffers from spastic paraplegia, uses crutches and insists he used cannabis to help combat debilitating leg spasms.