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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Legalise Cannabis Conference In High Spirits
Don Barnard Press Release
Saturday 06 Apr 2002 Over 100 dedicated cannabis activists gathered at the University of East Anglia in Norwich on Saturday 6 April, for the third annual party conference of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance. (LCA) The LCA was registered as a political party in the UK in March 1999. Previous and prospective election candidates from as far afield as Scotland and Cornwall made the journey to Norwich to participate in what was considered to be an important decision making conference. The policy changes on cannabis by the Liberal Democrat Party, Socialist Alliance, Green Party and Plaid Cymru who all call for the legalisation of cannabis led to the question as to whether LCA ought to continue fielding candidates in elections where those parties were standing. Alun Buffry, National Coordinator and Nominating Officer of the LCA, said: "Although many parties and their candidates are beginning to see the that the policy of prohibition was causing more harm than good to society, they still failed to recognise the whole issue and most do not appear to be prioritising it as an election issue. "To me it is not only an issue of the Human Rights to consume engage in a safe therapeutic activity that hurts nobody in the privacy of their own homes. Neither is it simply an issue of the urgent medical need for the plant by people who suffer from dreadful illnesses. "It is also an issue of the future - for our children's children's children. It is they who will have to breathe the polluted air and purify the polluted water that is being produced by many of the huge pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries today. Much of that pollution could be halted if we recognised and used cannabis hemp as a raw material instead. "It is that I am really fighting for - the re-introduction of an easy-to-grow local source of organic materials that can be used to produce thousands of products from paper to plastic, including cheap and environmentally-friendly biomass-derived fuels." The Conference delegates who seemed to reach an almost unanimous verdict voted to continue pushing the issues forward and will fight in future election. Alun Buffry added: "We also discussed the question of whether we need a party leader. Until now our leader has been named solely to fulfil the legal requirement for party registration." "With few exception, the delegates agreed that things were going fine and we did not need to follow a leader. Instead we are continuing to follow our Principles, Aims and Proposals. "We have seen the emergence of several leaders on a local level - men and women who understand not just the broader cannabis issues but how the terrible law is affecting their own communities." Speakers at the conference included several medical cannabis users, ex-cannabis convicts, and members of the Green Party. Mark Gibson from Cumbria said: "We have invited several other parties and their candidates to endorse our policies and to prioritise the issue and we await their responses. If they sincerely believe in legalisation they should have no reason not to endorse the LCA. If they do that we can consider supporting them." Alun Buffry can be contacted: 01376 324789 alun@ccguide.lca-online.net Kind regards Don Barnard Press Officer THE LEGALISE CANNABIS ALLIANCE Tel: 07940 485115 - 01376 324783 lca@lca-uk.org NOTES FOR EDITORS: http://www.lca-uk.org Speakers: Alun Buffry BSc, Dip Com (Open), LCA National Coordinator, LCA candidate Norwich South June 2001 John Peacock, LCA candidate Workington, June 2001 Mark Gibson, LCA Treasurer, LCA candidate Penrith & The Border, June 2001 Chris Baldwin, LCA candidate Worthing East & Shoreham, June 2001 Don Barnard, LCA Press Officer, LCA local by-election candidate Braintree, January 2002 Ingo Wagenknecht, Norfolk Green Party Phil Lockwood, LCA candidate Calder Valley, June 2001 Rev Robin Scott Linda Hendry, Scottish Green Party, Legalise Cannabis Campaign Scotland, LCA candidate for Edinburgh South, June 2001 Steve Pank, Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International Association, Labour Party candidate South Norfolk council elections 2001. **James McCleavey, prospective LCA candidate for Glasgow. **Emma O'Neill, prospective LCA candidate for Widnes local council elections May 2002. NOTE: Emma O'Neill polled over 7.5% of the vote in the local elections in Halton, Widnes, in June 2001. The Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) registered as apolitical party in March 1999. The LCA fielded 13 candidates at the last general election as well as some in local elections and by-elections. Results can be seen at http://www.ccguide.org.uk/elect.html The Principles, Aims and Proposals of the LCA can be found at http://www.lca-uk.org Posted Sunday, 7 April 2002
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