Source: Legalise Cannabis Alliance
January 30 2008
The only effect so far of the governments’ ‘Public consultation on
drugs seems to be a plan to put cannabis back into class B. If the
government goes ahead with a recriminalisation of the cannabis
community, they will discover why they put cannabis into class C
originally.
The report by the Institute for Criminal Policy research into Policing
cannabis as a class C drug shows that not much has changed as a result
of cannabis being in class C. The main difference is that the
number of of arrests for small amounts of cannabis has dropped. The
Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) predicted that cannabis use would fall if it was downgraded into class C. According to the governments own figures, use has dropped by 25% . We based our prediction on the fact that in Holland the use among the Dutch Nationals is half what it is in Britain where it is prohibited. Many people who have used class A drugs have found that cannabis is the most effective way to break a Class A
addiction.
LCA predicts that if cannabis is returned to class B with the attendant
criminalisation of cannabis users, then there will be the following
results:
Increase in alcoholism
Increase in street violence
Increase in Class A drug use, particularly Cocaine
Increase in the prison population . At any one time there are 1000
‘cannabis only’ offenders in prison.
Increase in gun crime
Increased addiction to pharmaceutical drugs more distrust of the police
Steve Barker, a spokesperson for the LCA, said: “The government seem to be taking notice of the campaign of failed writer Debra Bell who a year ago started a website called ‘talking about Cannabis’ in a weekly/monthly website diary she accounts her failures to
communicate with her disobedient son William.
“Mrs Bell is still hoping to get a publishing deal out of her account of her family breakdown. Several LCA members recently attended the lobby in the Houses of Parliament that she called to promote her cause. We found that the majority of the people there were parents of users of heroin and other drugs , not cannabis.”
What was not made clear to the public at the time of reclassification
to class C was that the penalties for the offence of cultivation or
‘intent to supply’ class C drugs was increased to class B level: a maximum of 14 years imprisonment. Many people cultivated a small amount for personal or medical use, under the impression that this was tolerated. They ended up being caught in a trap of a criminal prosecution. and some even a confiscation order meaning they can lost their house and their savings.
Steve Barker added “If the Government does carry out its plan to return cannabis to class B we can only hope that the level of tolerance to personal use will remain and that possession of small quantities will remain a non-arrestable offence. Also that cautions which are give out on occasion for possession of small amounts will not count as a criminal offence. A conviction can put a person in danger of losing his or her
employment.”
Alun Buffry from the LCA said: “The Advisory council on the Misuse of Drugs is to hold a session for oral testimonials on February 5th at the Excel Suite in London. When the LCA applied for a slot to present our evidence based upon personal experience with cannabis, the ACMD said that the agenda was full and could not be changed, and evidence had to be submitted in writing within a few days. Meanwhile prominent prohibitionists such as Debra Bell and Marjorie Wallace have been given up to an hour.
“Self-confessed cannabis users are once again being ignored despite the fact that figures suggest as many as 25% of people have used the plant and so few have suffered from that use.”
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