CLARKE
AGREES TO MEET CANNABIS GROUP
Source:
Evening News, Norwich
Date: March 4 2006
Author: Naomi Canton
Web: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/
contact: EveningNewsLetters@archant.co.uk
Clarke
agrees to meet cannabis group
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has finally agreed to meet a city-based
pro-cannabis group amid mounting controversy over the classification of the
drug.
The Legalise Cannabis Alliance has secured a meeting with the Norwich South MP
at the Home Office in London next week.
Mr Clarke had previously snubbed the organisation, but has now agreed to listen
to what it has to say.
The meeting comes at a time when drugs are top of the political agenda again.
A new study demonstrating the link between psychosis and cannabis - written by
Prof Tom Barnes - has just been published, adding more pressure on the
Government to take a fresh look at the price paid by increasing numbers of
young people dependent on cannabis.
This week, Surrey coroner Alan Crickmore called into question the Government's
drugs laws after claiming that, in one of every 100 heroin-related cases he
presided over, cannabis was also being used.
Two years ago, the Government downgraded the classification of cannabis from
Class B to Class C, but Mr Clarke is coming under increased pressure to regrade
it.
Instead, he has ordered a sweeping review of the laws covering illegal drug
abuse, after accepting research linking it to mental illness.
Today, he explained why he had now agreed to meet the alliance, which regularly
puts forward nominees to run for seats on Norwich City Council.
Mr Clarke said: "The purpose of the meeting is for them to set out their
case on the question of cannabis and we will have an exchange of views.
"It's an opportunity for them to say what they consider the Government
should be doing and I will listen."
But he added it was "very unlikely" he would reclassify cannabis.
Alliance spokesman Don Barnard said he was delighted Mr Clarke was granting it
an audience. "This is something we never expected to get and we shall be
taking advantage of it. We have been trying to get to meet Home Secretaries for
years, so I am pleased this has come about. We hope to address the issues we
disagree on. We will be saying that the Government should involve cannabis
users in the development of future cannabis policies and decisions."
He added: "We are not planning on persuading him to change his views on
classification of the drug, but we want to be involved in policy-making."
What are your views on cannabis and other drugs?
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