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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Cannabis and the British Political Parties
LCA LCA Manifesto
Sunday 13 Aug 2000 ecological and social problems caused by the terribly mistaken policy of prohibition. The present Labour Government not only opposes the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use, but also, by continuing to prosecute the sick - those using cannabis for the relief of pain - ignores or positively thwarts what is surely the will of the majority. People suffering, and in quest of relief from their suffering, are sent to prison even for electing to use what is, after all, a perfectly natural medicine. George Howarth MP has stated the Labour Party line in no uncertain terms: "The Government believes it would be a serious mistake to legalise the drug and has no intention of moving in that direction. The legalisation of cannabis would inevitably lead to large increases in consumption and a corresponding increase in the problems arising from that consumption." (24 July 1998). This simply begs the question. What is even worse in our opinion is that the Labour Party, in effect, has proclaimed the sheer irrelevance of any judgment not to its liking arrived at by a Royal Commission, asserting that even if such a commission recommended legalisation, the Party would not take notice. A familiar story, because this is more or less what happened after the publication of the Wootton Report, produced by the UK Royal Commission in 1968. The Report recommended lighter penalties for possession. James Callaghan, Prime Minister at the time, dismissed the Report, and soon penalties were increased. Since then the drugs problem has escalated out of control. Tony Blair and Jack Straw reject legalisation as an option altogether. The Conservative Party's policy is no more enlightened than Labour's: any prospect of decriminalisation or legalisation is rejected out of hand. Nor do the Liberal Democrats have much to offer, though projecting a liberal attitude. Individual Lib. Dems. espouse a range of views; as a party however, they are calling, simply, for another Royal Commission, while their leader Charles Kennedy opposes the legalisation of cannabis openly. The Green Party have amended their policies and are calling for the "decriminalisation" of the possession, use, cultivation and trade in cannabis. They propose that after this immediate step is taken it should be followed by a Royal Commission to look into exactly how cannabis can be fully legalised and what regulations are needed. The propsoe the establishment of "cannabis pubs", somewhat similar to the "Coffeeshops" of Holland, with age restrictions and quality control. Whilst at first glance this new policy may look progressive, in fact it is confused. To allow a free-for-all without the comfortable knowledge that there would be no social harm shows confused thinking, possibly panic at regaining votes lost to the Legalise Cannabis Alliance. Although the Official medico-scientific evidence from the official empirical studies on the effects of long-term cannabis smoking exonerates cannabis from harm, the Green Party have been unwilling to accept this. Rather they prefer to take the gamble and hope for the best, leaving a Royal Commission to sort out any undesired consequences. The second error in Green Party thinking is that such a state of decriminalisation, whilst freeing the cannabis user, grower and supplier from fear of arrest, makes no allowance to protect them from bad quality or allow any reparation for faulty goods. Decriminalisation also allows for civil penalties to be introduced which is unjustifiable for harmless cannabis activities. It is no wonder that The Legalise Cannabis Alliance sees decriminalisation as a particularly undesirable version of prohibition! The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) say:" The SNP does not support the decriminalisation of cannabis. We do however support the growing use of fiscal fines for those charged with drug offences that involve cannabis for own use. The SNP also want to look at the current classification of illegal drugs and establish a new hierarchy that is easy to understand and is credible. As part of that reclassification we would remove the illegal status of cannabis for proven medical use." In other words, they consider possession a minor crime, unless a person can prove its use was medicinal. We would ask, when is it not? Summarising then. The major parties without exception include cannabis in the category of illegal drugs. We believe this to be a grave mistake. Furthermore, all the parties, even the greenest, seem to be content to ignore the ecological benefits of using cannabis hemp biomass as a source of cheap and non-polluting energy. Moreover, they ignore the Human Rights issue, which ought to be of prime importance. What no political party seems to have explained, is why it should be necessary to punish people for choosing what they put into their own bodies. Printed, published & promoted by the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, PO Box 2883, Stoke-on_Trent, ST4 9EE
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