|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Speaker lights up debate on cannabis
Cambridge News
Tuesday 07 May 2002 GUEST speaker Howard Marks sparked controversy during a Cambridge Union debate on the legalisation of cannabis when he lit a joint and shared it with a student. Students cheered as Marks, 56, handed the joint to 20-year-old law student Reggie Vettasseri, who hosted Friday night's debate. Mr Vettasseri, vice-president of the Union, took a couple of puffs to laughs and cheers from the chamber. Mr Marks is regarded as something of a folk hero in cannabis smoking circles. His autobiography Mr Nice made the bestseller lists and pop band Super Furry Animals penned a song about him. He spent five years in an American jail after being caught trafficking cannabis. He regularly tours and appears on television calling for the drug to be legalised and his Cambridge Union Society appearance saw him give another impassioned speech on why cannabis should be legal. The incident with the joint happened after the debate during questioning from students, when Marks was challenged to light up a joint and happily did so. Michael Lynas, president of the Union, said: "We do not condone such activity but I think the university union is the place where issues such as this should be debated." Cambridge Union is getting used to being in the headlines. Hollywood star John Malkovich made national news when he launched a bizarre attack on Scottish Labour MP George Galloway during a debate last week. The enigmatic star of Dangerous Liaisons and Con Air was asked who he would like to fight to the death and the 48-year-old said he wanted to shoot the Glasgow Kelvin MP. More controversy could be round the corner. Former weathergirl and Gladiators presenter Ulrika Jonsson is due to visit on Friday, May 17, and is likely to face a grilling over her links with England football boss Sven Goran Eriksson.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!