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UK: 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 unchanged he would be 'stuck with having to enforce it'. Sheriff George Evans spoke as he dealt with a man who claims he cannot afford to pay the £100 fine imposed and may have to be jailed when the case comes to a means enquiry court. In the dock was Colin Cameron (57), School Brae, Letham, appearing before Sheriff Evans for a second offence of growing the drug, and who again claimed he had grown it to treat a crippling medical condition. Fiscal Edward Russell said Cameron had been admonished in March and had now admitted committing exactly the same offence at his home on June 13. He said police had received information from several sources that cannabis would be found at Cameron's home. A search warrant had been obtained and 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 accused had admitted having them. He said each plant could produce some two ounces of cannabis, and if that were the case they could have considerable value, running into four figures. He said the accused had claimed he was growing the plants for [his] own use for medical reasons. This was re-emphasised by human rights lawyer Aamar (sic) Anwar, appearing for the accused. He said that there was nothing to suggest that the accused had been concerned in the supply of drugs and added that the cannabis had been purely for personal use. Mr Anwar added that of the 11 plants five would have been active and only two or three would have been likely to survive. He said that Cameron suffered from a degenerative condition that caused extreme pain which at times was 'crippling'. He had been tasking opiates but his doctor felt there was risk of addiction to the drugs and he stopped taking them. Muscle relaxants had been ineffective, said Mr Anwar, and Cameron's GP was supportive of him making infusuions from cannabis and drinking them as a relaxant. The lawyer said that once again the accused found himself in the unfortunate position of being criminalised, but he did not want to buy drugs from dealers and had been forced into this position. Since the last case, said Mr Anwar, Cameron's medical condition had worsened and he still required to take cannabis. The only other course, he said, was for the accused to follow the letter of the law and live in extreme pain. Sheriff Evans said he did not make the law but only administered it and unless the Scottish Parliament addressed the problem and decided there were clear medical grounds to change the law, courts were stuck with having to enforce the law. The same position, said the sheriff, applied to the procurator fiscal. Sheriff Evans said that there was strong mitigation in that Cameron was trying to relieve his own pain but he said he would have to impose a fine of £100. After yesterday's case, a joint statement was issued by Cupar Scottish Socialist Party and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance on behalf of Cameron. Describing the accused as a 'well-known activist', the statement said that the court had been told that, given the present contradictory state of the law, Mr Cameron and others in similar situations, along with the courts, are being placed in an impossible situation. As Mr Cameron pointed out through his solicitor, however, if he had not broken the law he would nevertheless still have been punished by having to continue having to suffer the pain of his condition. Mr Cameron's position is that this is a clear breach of his human rights and that no one should be forced to suffer pain in order to obey the law. The statement acknowledged that, having admonished Mr Cameron previously on identical charges, Sheriff Evans had no choice in law but to oppose a penalty for the repeat offence. It is made clear that Cameron cannot afford to pay the fine at the stipulated rate of £4 per week and that the case will now probably go to a Means Inquiry Court. At this time, the court will have to decide whether or not to jail Mr Cameron for his inability to pay the fine. --=======248073D1=======--
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