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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Dutch Cannabis Tribunal Finds That Ban Does More Harm Than Good
Legalise Cannabis Alliance Friday 05 Dec 2008 December 4 2008 Legalise Cannabis Alliance No Embargo A Dutch Tribunal on cannabis conducted in The Hague, The Netherlands, on December 1st and 2nd has concluded that a ban on cannabis does indeed have more disadvantages than advantages. Representatives of the Christian Democrat Party (CDA) failed to convince an independent judge of the opposite. On behalf of the organisers, Joep Oomen, spokesperson for ENCOD (THE EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES), launched a call to the Members of the Dutch Parliament to request the Dutch government to abolish this ban as soon as possible. Members of the UK group The Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) echoed this call to the British Government to heed the advice of the tribunal as well as it's own expert Committee, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) Earlier this year the ACMD concluded it's own investigation into the current classification of cannabis as a class C drug and recommended no change. However, the Labour Government has rejected the advice of the experts and announced the upgrading to class B. Alun Buffry, a spokesperson for the LCA said: "Our Government has chosen to act against the advice of its own experts after asking them for it. Evidence in fact shows not only that the risks from using cannabis are much lower than other class B drugs, but there has been a decrease in use since downgrading to class C. It does not make sense to ignore fact even in an attempt to send out signals to people not to use some drugs when people already know that the experts say differently. All it does is make the Government look foolish and dishonest. "The prohibition of cannabis, designed to protect people from harm, has had the reverse effect - society is riddled with uncontrollable suppliers of dubious quality and unknown strength: cannabis - although often contaminated - is available to almost any person, teenagers included, in almost every town and city, within minutes - and the minimum age is a ten pound note - that is, often there is no concern for age of customers buying on the streets "Whilst in the press we read tales of the unfortunate few who seem to have suffered through illegal cannabis use, hundreds of thousands of victimless users including those who find medical benefit face prosecution each year. "Estimates of the number of cannabis users in the UK range from 3 to 7 million - in Europe over 70 million - and ALL those people are regarded as criminals. It cannot be normal to have that number of "criminals" on our streets! Something must be wrong. "It is time for the Government to admit that prohibition of cannabis has been a dreadful failure and to look at alternatives - such as a controlled system of supply for adults, allowing small scale cultivation at home for own use and non-profit collective growing clubs. "It is time for the Government to heed the expert advice and take the control of supply out of the hands of criminal dealers and start protecting users instead of criminalising them. Notes for Editors 1. Alun Buffry lca@lca-uk.org Legalise Cannabis Alliance Po Box 2883 Stoke-on-Trent SS4 9EE http://www.lca-uk.org/ 2. ENCOD Press Release https://www.encod.org/info/THE-CANNABIS-TRIBUNAL-IN-THE-HAGUE.html EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES Lange Lozanastraat 14 – 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 / Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644 / +31 (0)6 30210357 E-mail: office@encod.org http://www.encod.org 3. Soon a DVD will be produced of the Tribunal’s proceedings that were broadcast live on the Internet. The final declaration that was offered to the Members of the Dutch Parliament can be read at http://www.cannabistribunaal.nl https://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/Conclusies_Tribunaal.pdf The Cannabis Tribunal was organised by Cannabis College, the http://www.drugsbeleid.nl>Stichting Drugsbeleid and Encod.
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