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Sheriff: I have to apply cannabis law as it stands
Dundee Courier and Advertiser
Tuesday 28 Oct 2003 A FIFE sheriff yesterday said that as long as the law on cannabis remained= =20 unchanged he would be stuck with having to enforce it. Sheriff George Evans spoke as he dealt with a man who claims he cannot=20 afford to pay the =A3100 fine imposed and may have to be jailed when the= case=20 comes to a means enquiry court. In the dock was Colin Cameron (57), School Brae, Letham, appearing before=20 Sheriff Evans for a second offence of growing the drug, and who again=20 claimed he had grown it to treat a crippling medical condition. Fiscal Edward Russell said Cameron had been admonished in March and had now= =20 admitted committing exactly the same offence at his home on June 13. He=20 said police had received information from several sources that cannabis=20 would be found at Cameron's home. A search warrant had been obtained and=20 ten pots were found in a bedroom and one in a bathroom. The plants, said the fiscal, all had the appearance of cannabis and the=20 accused had admitted having them. He said each plant could produce some two ounces of cannabis, and if that=20 were the case they could have considerable value, running into four=20 figures. He said the accused had claimed he was growing the plants for=20 [his] own use for medical reasons. This was re-emphasised by human rights lawyer Aamar (sic) Anwar, appearing= =20 for the accused. He said that there was nothing to suggest that the=20 accused had been concerned in the supply of drugs and added that the=20 cannabis had been purely for personal use. Mr Anwar added that of the 11 plants five would have been active and only=20 two or three would have been likely to survive. He said that Cameron suffered from a degenerative condition that caused=20 extreme pain which at times was crippling2. He had been tasking opiates=20 but his doctor felt there was risk of addiction to the drugs and he stopped= =20 taking them. Muscle relaxants had been ineffective, said Mr Anwar, and Cameron's GP was= =20 supportive of him making infusuions from cannabis and drinking them as a=20 relaxant. The lawyer said that once again the accused found himself in the= =20 unfortunate position of being criminalised, but he did not want to buy=20 drugs from dealers and had been forced into this position. Since the last case, said Mr Anwar, Cameron's medical condition had=20 worsened and he still required to take cannabis. The only other course, he= =20 said, was for the accused to follow the letter of the law and live in=20 extreme pain. Sheriff Evans said he did not make the law but only administered it and=20 unless the Scottish Parliament addressed the problem and decided there were= =20 clear medical grounds to change the law, courts were stuck with having to=20 enforce the law. The same position, said the sheriff, applied to the=20 procurator fiscal. Sheriff Evans said that there was strong mitigation in that Cameron was=20 trying to relieve his own pain but he said he would have to impose a fine=20 of =A3100. After yesterday's case, a joint statement was issued by Cupar Scottish=20 Socialist Party and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance on behalf of Cameron. Describing the accused as a well-known activist, the statement said that=20 the court had been told that, given the present contradictory state of the= =20 law, Mr Cameron and others in similar situations, along with the courts,=20 are being placed in an impossible situation. As Mr Cameron pointed out through his solicitor, however, if he had not=20 broken the law he would nevertheless still have been punished by having to= =20 continue having to suffer the pain of his condition. Mr Cameron's position= =20 is that this is a clear breach of his human rights and that no one should=20 be forced to suffer pain in order to obey the law. The statement acknowledged that, having admonished Mr Cameron previously on= =20 identical charges, Sheriff Evans had no choice in law but to oppose a=20 penalty for the repeat offence. It is made clear that Cameron cannot afford to pay the fine at the=20 stipulated rate of =A34 per week and that the case will now probably go to a= =20 Means Inquiry Court. At this time, the court will have to decide whether or not to jail Mr=20 Cameron for his inability to pay the fine.
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