Subj: Cannabis Campaign - Church discusses 'harmless' drug, but the arrests go on

Date: Jun 14, 1998

Source: Independent on Sunday

Church discusses 'harmless' drug, but the arrests go on

THE CAMPAIGN to decriminalise cannabis use in Britain has
made an unparalleled series of advances this week.

Members of the Church of England, the House of Lords and
senior members of Britain's medical community have all been
considering the issue in a more dispassionate atmosphere than
before.

A paper released on Wednesday, and due to be debated by the
General Synod of the Church of England at the beginning of next
month, refers to this newspaper's campaign, as well as the
fundamentally "harmless" nature of the drug and the strong case
for allowing medical experimentation with the substance.

The Misuse of Drugs report by the Board of Social
Responsibility also includes a comment made by the Lord Chief
Justice, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, last year that
decriminalisation was "a subject that deserves, in my opinion,
detached, objective, independent consideration".

It goes on to call for the whole area of illegal drug use to be
seen in the context of religious faith and, in some cases, of the
search to renew the spiritual side of life.

A background paper written for the synod by Rev Kenneth Leech
quotes widely from the Independent on Sunday's campaign and
underlines the current scientific opinion that cannabis use is of
no long-term danger to health and is not in itself an
encouragement to go on to take stronger illegal drugs.

Writing since the IoS campaign was launched on 28 September
last year, Rev Leech states: "The calls for decriminalisation of
cannabis possession, which have been the subject of debate in
the UK for over 30 years, are likely to become more frequent."

His paper also quotes this newspaper's criticisms of the
limitations of the Government's recent White Paper entitled
Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain, published on 27 April
this year.

In support of the IoS stance, Rev Leech writes: "The most
positive aspect of the [Government's] document is the
recognition that treatment costs less, and works better, than
prohibition.

"However, the long-term policy implications of this recognition
need to be taken more seriously than any government has so far
done."

On 4 July the General Synod will merely be asked to note and
discuss the report and its accompanying background paper, but
the ideas they both contain demonstrate the changing moral
attitude to cannabis use within the Church of England. On
Tuesday the House of Lords Science and Technology
Subcommittee heard important evidence from the Multiple
Sclerosis Society on the effectiveness of the drug in combating
some of the painful symptoms of the degenerative illness.
A second public hearing will hear further evidence on the drug's
properties at 10.45am on Tuesday 16 June. (Call 0171-219 3107
for details.)

Perhaps this week's most unlikely development, however, was
the granting of a licence to Britain's first cannabis farm.

The government-backed research station was given the
go-ahead on Thursday and can now research and develop the
drug's uses as a medicine.

Prior to this, all scientific work on cannabis has exposed those
conducting the experiments to the possibility of a criminal
charge for possession.

Dr Geoffrey Guy, a founder of GW Pharmaceuticals, is to grow
the drug in a giant greenhouse at a secret site in south-east
England and he expects to be able to market at least one new
drug within five years.

The research plan, reported in the national media this week, will
follow in the footsteps of similar research work being pursued in
the United States, where the government last year announced it
is to spend $1m (UKP600,000) on investigating the uses of
cannabis in the treatment of illness.

In Britain, GW will work to isolate THC, the active ingredient in
cannabis, and to test its suitability for therapeutic use. Dr Guy
has already indicated the possibility that patients with multiple
sclerosis, Aids, cancer and glaucoma may all stand to benefit
from his work.

He estimates that the research will cost about UKP10m over the
next five years and he is looking for pharmaceutical companies
to invest in the new venture.

The first shipment of cannabis plants supplied by GW's Dutch
partner HortaPharm will be planted in the next few weeks and
the first harvest is expected in late autumn.

In contrast to such positive news, this week police resources
have once more been channelled into dealing with
cannabis-related crime.

A mother of two, who cares for her chronically arthritic
54-year-old husband, has been convicted for making a cannabis
soup to ease his pain.

Margaret Startin was fined after police raided her home in
Cannock, Staffordshire, and found plants growing under special
lights in the loft.

Mrs Startin said: "We have tried normal medication but these
were not working. I had to try something else. I was desperate."
At Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday she admitted possessing
cannabis with intent to supply and was fined UKP500 and ordered
to pay UKP1,123 costs. Her husband, William Widdowson, was
fined UKP250 after he admitted growing the drug.