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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Cannabis - asking the right question!
Don Barnard Press Release
Wednesday 29 Oct 2003 Press statement Issued by: Legalise Cannabis Alliance, PO Box 198. Norwich. NR3 3WB REPLY TO: donbarnard@lca-uk Tel: 07984 255015 CANNABIS ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION ! There's more going on than Tory dissent on IDS. REAL policies that affect real people are being debated in the commons this afternoon: The debate on a motion to modify the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act to allow for the reclassification of cannabis should start about 12 30 today subject to change. This will be followed by a vote. Conservatives intend to vote against! LCA PRESS STATEMENT: We cannot hope to make progress in the cannabis debate unless we begin by asking the right question. We cannot begin simply by arguing. We need to decide what to argue about .In the present context, that question is: Should cannabis possession be criminalised - Should we have a crime of cannabis possession? This same question can be expressed in various ways. A different version of this question is: Should cannabis users be punished? Should the criminal law punish people simply for using cannabis? This is the basic ques=ADtion that must be addressed in any attempt to evaluate the justice or injustice of our nation; drug policy. If we cannot provide a satisfactory answer to it, we should conclude that our current policy is unjustified and should be changed. Prohibitionists pretend to occupy the moral high ground in debates about illicit drug use. Unlike their opponents, they profess to stand up against immorality. Those who oppose criminalisation are seemingly placed in the uncomfortable and awkward position of condoning behaviour that is suspect from a moral point of view. The moral high ground should not be conceded to those who favour prohibition. Disagreement about the immorality of recreational cannabis use is reasonable. But there can be no disagreement about the immorality of punishing people without excellent reasons to do so. LCA press officer Don Barnard said: "Punishment is the most powerful weapon available to the state, and we must always be vigilant to ensure that it is not inflicted without adequate justification. The entire thrust of our argument is that this weapon is invoked without good reason against recreational cannabis users." ..... "If I am correct, prohibitionists are more clearly guilty of immorality than their opponents. The wrongfulness of recreational cannabis use, if it exists at all, pales against the immorality of punishing cannabis users. ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION ! Is the central issue on which the Legalise Cannabis Alliance in "A Challenge to the Criminal Justice System" is focused. SEE http://www.lca-uk.org/challengeintro.ph Don Barnard Legalise Cannabis Alliance, PO Box 198. Norwich. NR3 3WB http://www.lca-uk.org donbarnard@lca-uk 07984 255015
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