Subj: Cannabis Campaign - Heed our rallying cry

Date: Mar 8, 1998

Source: Independent on Sunday

Heed our rallying cry

By Graham Ball

IT IS TIME to stand up and be counted. For the past six
months the Independent on Sunday has led the debate on
decriminalising cannabis. Now it is time to turn words into
people power. We want the thousands who have already
signed our petition to join countless others who believe the
Government's war against cannabis is harming our society, to
join us in London.

We are planning a mass march through the heart of the
capital on Saturday 28 March and it should prove to be the
biggest pro-cannabis demonstration for 30 years.

Caroline Coon, the artist and original founder of the drug
charity Release, who helped organise the last "pot rally" in
London in 1968, is to support our march.

"People should never believe that demonstrations are useless.
People power on the streets does change things," said Ms
Coon who continues to campaign actively for drug law reform.

"The drug issue is more important today than it was 30 years
ago because authoritarian governments are now using the war
against drugs, which is really a war against people, to
undermine democracy and civil liberties.

"Thousands of people speaking with one voice could force the
Government to change the law. We know that prohibition is
the worst way to reduce any harm drugs may do. Prohibition
wastes millions of pounds in tax revenue which could be
better spent on reducing poverty."

The deputy director of Release, Greg Poulter, is equally
resolute in his support for the march. "It is necessary to show
the politicians the strength of feeling in the country for reform
of the cannabis laws. Demonstrations of this sort can send a
message to the Government that they need to respond to
public opinion and not remain entrenched in the discredited
doctrine of prohibition," he said.

Supporters wishing to take part in the march should assemble
in Hyde Park for a mid-day departure for Trafalgar Square
where speakers including IoS editor Rosie Boycott, Howard
Marks and Paul Flynn MP will address the rally.

Groups from as far afield as Scotland, Wales and the North-
west have already indicated that they will be attending. And a
delegation from the European parliament is also expected.

"We shall be urging all our supporters to attend, " said Alun
Buffry, spokesman for the Campaign to Legalise Cannabis
International Association (CLCIA). "The time is right to support
the IoS march. We have noticed a distinct change in attitudes
since the campaign began in the newspaper. The fact that a
lot of professional people were prepared to put their name to
the petition that has been running each week seems to have
encouraged a lot of people to announce in public what they
may have previously only whispered in private."

As yet no one can guess how many campaigners will support
our march, but we are urging individuals to start organising
groups and let us know how many to expect.

A 1996 survey revealed that 8.3 million adults between the
ages of 16 and 59 had admitted to using cannabis, and it only
requires a fraction of that total to make a point on the streets.

But how the point is made is almost as important as the point
itself. Rosie Boycott has urged supporters to be streetwise. "It
is important that everyone remembers that we are out to
change the law, not break it," said Ms Boycott. "It would be
naive not to recognise that we will be scrutinised by hostile
eyes. We must not provoke police reaction. We want to
change the law on cannabis by legal and democratic means,"
she said.

Danny Kushlick, of the drug law reform group Transform, says
he is impressed by the way the IoS has taken the argument
forward. "Up until now there has been no attempt to get
people on the ground involved," he said.

And the campaign is having an effect, he thinks. "I've noticed
a major shift in the last three months, with the House of Lords
committee and the Police Foundation investigation. People
are coming out of the woodwork and everything seems to be
happening with a rush. It is quite astonishing."

HOW TO GET THERE

ROLL UP, roll up for the great cannabis march. On Saturday
28 March supporters of the Independent on Sunday's
decriminalise cannabis campaign should gather at Reformer's
Tree in Hyde Park for the biggest march in support of
cannabis for 30 years. (There is no tree there any more - a
lamp-post marks the spot.)

The procession will follow a police-approved route, out of the
park and into Park Lane. From here the marchers head down
to Hyde Park Corner and turn into Piccadilly. From Piccadilly
Circus we will turn right into the Haymarket and from the
south end of the Haymarket turn left into Trafalgar Square.

The Royal Parks agency insists that no stalls are erected in
Hyde Park and requests that banners be kept furled until
marchers are on the road. Collections are banned en route
and the authorities request that litter in Trafalgar Square be
kept to a minimum.

Notwithstanding the limitations, the organisers are determined
that the day should be a celebration rather than a
confrontation.

"In 1967 at the time of the first 'pot rally' in London the
underground was in its infancy," said Caroline Coon, who
founded Release that year. "The scene in San Francisco was
far more advanced and Allen Ginsberg came over and
addressed the crowd in Trafalgar Square and was almost
arrested."

Thirty years later the tables of tolerance are turned. Professor
John P Morgan of the City of New York Medical School and
co-author of the book Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, said:
"This is marvellous news. I cannot conceive of a
demonstration like this in America just now. I wish you
success. The eyes of the western democracies are upon
you."