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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Legalise, Don't Penalise
Hackney Gazette
Monday 19 Mar 2007 WHEN the law decides to relentlessly pursue a 68-year-old grandmother whose only crime is that she uses cannabis at home for pain relief, it is surely time to take stock and consider how much time and money is being wasted on something that should be as much down to personal choice as wearing black or white socks. The declassification of cannabis to a class C drug could have effectively decriminalised it, saved millions in police and court resources and, with the proper guidelines, created a whole new tax revenue stream for the country. But for the fact that my dad won't allow what he refers to as "that cannabis" in his house because he's a decent, law-abiding citizen, my mother could at least have the option of finding a new and effective pain relief for her chronic rheumatoid arthritis instead of the crap that is constantly buggering up her liver. For so long the excuse of cannabis leading to worse things has been used to scare people off. Yet lighting up a Benson & Hedges doesn't make your habitual smoker want to start skinning up, so why should a joint mean the downward spiral to smack is inevitable? If you have an addictive personality, there's as much chance of a liking for doughnuts leading to a Black Forest Gateaux-a-day habit. What harm is one little old lady doing to society? She's not a dealer, she's not profiting from the stuff she grows and she's not threatening the very fabric of our society with her medicated hobnobs and cocoa. The statement from a Northumberland police spokesman outside the court last week as Patricia Tabram was sentenced to a 250-hour community service order was typically officious: "We take drug abuse very seriously and are keen to use all tools at our disposal to eliminate drug dealing and use in the community." What he should have said is: "We take our crime figures very seriously and will continue to hound easy targets like this dopehead pensioner instead of tackling the real scum who sell crack to schoolkids or the detritus of society who don't think twice about battering old people for their pension money to get their next fix." The road to recovery starts with the first acceptance of the problem. And Patricia Tabram, or indeed anyone who wants to bake a hash cake or roll up a skunk-filled doobie for their own use, are not the problem. They're the excuse. http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk
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