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UK: Home Office Guilty of Deceipt on Cannabis Issue
Ian Malley CannaZine
Sunday 20 Jan 2008 Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has invited cannabis users to London to take part in a debate regarding the future classification of cannabis, even though, according to news reports , the decision is already made and reclassification will take place. And regardless of what the influential Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs actually advises the Home Office. In a show of arrogance from the Home Secretary which beggars belief, Jacqui Smith ignored a government directive instructing her not to speak to journalists on the subject. And in doing so she has made it clear both she, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown had already made the decision that cannabis would be reclassified later in the year, back to a class B drug, which carries with it stiffer prison sentences and higher fines. "In light of this new information which has come to light" said Ian Malley, a spokesman for cannabis pro-reform website The Canna Zine (http://cannazine.co.uk), "one can only assume the Home Office has attempted to "hood-wink" cannabis users from all walks of life, by way of the application form which must be filled into attend the ACMD meeting which takes place in London on February 5th 2008, supposedly, to discuss a decision which has already been made?" Disclosure The application to attend the ACMD meeting, which must first be downloaded from the Home Office website, requires a full disclosure of the applicants personal details. These details include their name, address and telephone number. "Clearly a good many people were set to fill in this application in good faith, but now it seems it was a rouse. A sting operation being set up by a government who clearly planned to invite cannabis users to London, collect and store their details, reclassify cannabis regardless of the advice given by the ACMD, which then leaves the people who filled in their personal details and attended the meeting in something of a precarious situation." "I for one use cannabis, and have done for the last 5 years in a personal battle with alcoholism. Whats to stop the government using my personal details against me?" "In light of this situation there's nothing stopping them. It would appear they are capable of absolutely anything," continued Mr Malley. Distrust The feeling of distrust for the government doesn't stop with the attending cannabis users. According to Professor Les Iversen, a pharmacologist at Oxford University as well as a member of the ACMD advisory council, "If ACMD were to recommend no change and this reclassification were to happen regardless, I believe it would be the first time that any Home Secretary acted against the recommendations offered and it would call into question the whole function and future of this group." A former member of the ACMD, Reverend Martin Blakeborough put things firmly into perspective by saying ""There is no way that the ACMD would support any reclassification of cannabis." Rev Blakeborough, who runs the Kaleidoscope drug abuse charity, said: "There is no significant new evidence to suggest that cannabis is any more harmful than in the last review we did 18 months ago." "The only reason that the ACMD is being forced to discuss this matter in the first place, is because every new Home Secretary seems to want to show how tough they are." "In light of this information, it must surely destroy any shred of trust fringe groups such as the cannabis community may have had for the government and we can only hope these underhanded dealings, allied to their shambolic last 6 months in office, signal the end of what has turned out to be the most untrustworthy, incapable government for many years," said Ian Malley. "No Confidence"! http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&Itemid=27
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