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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Can Alan make the law turn over a new leaf?
Nick Turner News & Star, Cumbria
Monday 16 Jul 2001 Cumbria's chief constable believes cannabis could be legalised within five years. If that does happen it might not just be because of the changing attitudes of politicians and the police. Campaigners are giving up petitions and direct action and using the courts to win the right to smoke cannabis. Nick Turner spoke to two Cumbrian activists about their efforts to radically alter Britain's drug laws WHEN Cumbrian cannabis campaigner Alan Mason walks into Carlisle Crown Court today he will be bidding for a place in legal history. He is one of a handful of cannabis users hoping to use human rights legislation to bring about a collapse of UK drug laws. Mr Mason, 40, doesn't deny culti-vating 50 cannabis plants at his Stonegarth home, but is pleading not guilty because he says drug use is a private matter which the Gov-ernment has no fight to interfere in. Unable to work due to a previous drugs conviction he is devoting all his time to a legal battle to defend what he calls his "right" to smoke cannabis. He has a website which keeps his band of supporters up to date with every twist and turn of his impend-ing court case and also tells of his lifelong battle with the authorities over his drug use. The Human Rights Act came into effect last October and offers cannabis users the chance to prove that the Government is interfering in the private life of an individual by prosecuting for simple posses-sion. There are up to a dozen cases awaiting trial in which cannabis users hope to test article eight of the Act and victory in just one of these cases could lead to a rapid unravelling of the UK drug laws. Mr Mason is hoping that his battle against charges of cultivation, possession and intent to supply will lead to such a victory after seeing his life wrecked by earlier drug conviction. He was jailed for nine months for intent to supply cannabis and amphetamines. He admitted he had been "looking after a few friends." "When I came out of jail I thought I'm having nothing to do with any-one and I'm just going to grow my own and smoke my own. No money is going into a criminal pocket and still they used the law against me.' Embittered by years of being unable to get work because of his conviction Mr Mason is now excited at the thought of his case helping to undermine prohibition of cannabis. "Prison was awful, but afterwards I have been close to suicide or being on the streets and luckily there has been somebody to pick up the pieces and stop that happening. "I have done all the training you could imagine and have been a voluntary worker for cerebral palsy sufferers, but at the same time I cant get a bank account, I am not allowed to work in counselling, as a teacher or in health care - it has been totally victimisation just because I enjoy a certain herb. "There have been times which have been really black, but I have no regrets about taking on this fight and I feel really confident that the death of prohibition is less than 18 months away." The holy grail for cannabis activists who are resting their hopes on the Human Rights Act is for a court to issue a "declaration of incompatibility" which would effectively be a memo to Govern-ment stating that it is not possi-ble to uphold the Misuse of Drugs Act because the way it is being used against cannabis users flies in the face of the human rights legislation. The case most likely to give the Government such a headache is that of Daniel Westlake. The 21-year-old Kent musician's case for cannabis possession is due to come before the Court of Appeal, which has the power to issue such a declaration. He was convicted at crown court before the Human Rights Act came into force, but will be able to use it in his appeal and relishes the irony of the legal system being used to undermine anti-cannabis laws. He said: "I've done marching before and writing to politicians and its had no effect because they are afraid of the subject. The courts will force them to confront the issue." Last week charity worker Jerry Ham declared he would appeal after failing in an attempt to get a case for cannabis possession thrown out of court on a human rights defence. Ham was given two years' condi-tional discharge by Judge Rivlin at Southwark High Court who said: "If the defendant wishes to secure a change in the law it can be achieved and must be done by democratic means. Until there is a change in the law, judges must continue to uphold it." Roger Warren-Evans, a barrister on the council of civil rights organi- sation Liberty, is convinced that the Human Rights Act would lead to the collapse of prohibition. "Daniel Westlake and Jerry Ham are both absolutely simple cases of personal possession and there is no question of buying in quantity and I think the court of appeal is going to have to face this by the end of the year. "I think the powers that be are aware that they are going to be hit with an adverse legal judgement and are preparing for that day. The Gov- ernment is going to have to change the whole system of drug regulation." Lezley's pleas in the post from fellow MS victims MULTLPLE sclerosis sufferer Lezley Gibson is helping to provide cannabis for up to four people a week to help them cope with the disease. After she was dramatically cleared of possessing cannabis by a crown court jury last year Mrs Gibson, of Front Street, Alston, started to receive letters from other MS sufferers because of the publicity generated by the case. The letters are sometimes addressed to "Lady with MS in Cumbria" and ask for help in getting cannabis to help counter the effects of MS. Mrs Gibson says she puts the letter writers in touch with co-operatives set up to provide cannabis for medicinal use or occasionally sends them some of her own spare cannabis. "These are emotional letters from disabled people desperate for help. I can point them in the right direction, but I can't help them all myself. 'Some of them are middle-aged women or people who have no idea where to get cannabis, but have read about me in the Telegraph or The Times and want help." Some of the people who write to Mrs Gibson send letters from their doctors confirming that they have MS. Mrs Gibson added: "It seems amazing that you can have cannabis for fun in Brixton, but up here you can be prosecuted if you use it for medicinal pur-poses. I can sad these people a bit of mine and don't charge them for it. "If I was an asthmatic I would get an inhaler for free so why should disabled people have to pay for cannabis that helps them? It shouldn't be me help-ing disabled people, it should be the Government's job. "It's ridiculous the disabled have to do so much for them-selves." Mrs Gibson grows her own cannabis, but says it would be impossible to produce enough for all the other sufferers who contact her. "If I was growing that much I would be prosecuted." Sidebox: How the law has relaxed on weed September 2000: Cumbrian multiple sclerosis sufferer Lezley Gibson is cleared of possessing cannabis after a four-day trial at Carlisle Crown Court. A jury found her not guilty and she was entitled to use the drug on medical drugs. October 2000: Cumbria Constabulary's Chief Constable Colin Phillips says he would personally turn a blind eye to cannabis use at a social occasion and said the acquittal of Lezley Gibson was "a triumph of the jury system". His comments sparked a national debate. October 8, 2000: Seven members of former Conservative leader William Hague's shadow cabinet confess to smoking cannabis - leaving the Tories' controversial zero tolerance policy in disarray. They revealed their secret - and illegal - youthful activities as a row raged over Ann Widdecombe's pledge to bring in pounds100 spot fines for marijuana users. The group included Francis Maude, the shadow foreign secretary, Lord Strathclyde, the shadow leader in the Lords, and Archie Norman, the former Asda supermarket chief who is one of Mr Hague's closest friends. Others included Bernard Jenkin, the shadow transport minister, Peter Ainsworth, the shadow culture secretary, David Willetts, the social security spokesman, and Oliver Letwin, shadow treasury minister. January 2001: Clinical trials begin which investigate if cannabis has benefits for multiple sclerosis sufferers. March 2001: Brian Paddick , the head of the Metropolitan Police Lambeth division, which covers Brixton, says drug users found with small amounts of cannabis should be let off with a formal warning rather than being arrested and cautioned. Officers would take drugs off those possessing them, record their confiscation and issue an on--the-spot warning. Unofficial use of such warnings is thought to have already been in operation in the Met and other forces. But the Brixton proposal is believed to be the first time a senior officer has officially suggested the use of the tactic for cannabis. May 2001: GW Pharmaceuticals, which is developing cannabis-based drugs to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer pain, announces that it is to float on the Alternative Investment Market. "Dr Geoffrey Guy, executive chairman, says the company plans to raise pounds16m through a placing by its advisors Collins Stewart. This would value the business, which has a Government licence to grow 40,000 cannabis plant at a secret location, at between pounds140m and pounds170m. The drug for multiple sclerosis is already in Phase III clinical trials, and Dr Guy says he hopes it will be on the market within three years. It is delivered under the tongue using a spray that looks a little like a breath freshener. Other delivery methods being explored include an inhaler device. June 2001: Brad, Paul and Jon from S Club 7 apologise to fans after they were arrested for possessing cannabis.
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