Drugs gang jailed - at huge publkic expense

Never mind the harm that cannabis does, Judge Challinor  what about addressing the good?

Judge Challinor, of course these "criminals" were going to make a lot of money out of this - but that is what this world seems mostly to want people to do - make money, that is why people grow cannabis commercially and that is why people brew beer commercially - and take a look at the number of hospital admissions due to booze. Yet there is no law against that.

Whether or not a person is at risk from cannabis, obviously that risk is increased when the production and supply is left outside of the law and in the hands of oft unscrupulous dealers, with no consumer protection and no tax on profits.

For every person that consumes cannabis to ill effect there are hundreds if not thousands that benefit - and those people should be allowed to grow their own for own use without the interference of the law - and people like these that grow to sell should be controlled.

Locking them up at public expense will achieve nothing

Drugs gang jailed
Staffordshire Newsletter
29 February 2012

NINE members of a Staffordshire-based drugs gang who plotted to produce millions of pounds worth of cannabis a year have been given jail terms totalling 43 years.
The gang spent an estimated £1 million on a massive cultivation plant at an isolated farm in Lincolnshire.
But they were netted after a covert police surveillance operation, with video cameras trained on the converted barns and tracking suspects to meetings in the Midlands and the North West of England.
Their ringleader was Neil Bridges from Hammerwich, described by Mr Andrew Lockhart QC, prosecuting, as "the main mover responsible for setting up the facility."
Bridges, aged 36, of Hall Lane, Hammerwich, who admitted conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis was jailed for six years by Judge Michael Challinor at Stafford crown court.
With Bridges in the dock was his "right hand man", Peter Bassett, aged 47, of Kings Bromley Lane, Rugeley, jailed for four years.
Each member of the gang had a role to play in the plot to produce the cannabis.
Tony Mobbs, aged 46, of Lichfield Road, Barton under Needwood, said to be responsible for planning the conversion of the barns and roofer Paul Hicks, aged 41, from Solihull each  got 42 months.
Builder John Stacey, 47 of Woodington Road, Sutton Coldfield, who recruited his own son got four years.
Andrew, 27, of the same address and carpenter Robert Eyland, aged 35, also from Sutton Coldfield were each given three years.
All seven of the above had admitted conspiracy to produce and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
A tenth defendant, lorry driver Barry Brearley, aged 65, of Charlemont Road, West Bromwich, who provided transport was the only member of the conspiracy to escape custody - his 12 month term was suspended for two years with 180 hours of unpaid community work. Brearley admitted only consdpiracy to produce cannabis and Judge Challinor described him as "a decent man, exploited by others."
However, the most severe sentences of eight years apiece were handed out to two gang members who denied the charges and had to be convicted by a jury.
They were Desmond Bayliss, aged 42, from Toxteth, Liverpool a "close associate" of Bridges and Iain Brown, aged 60, from Chichester, West Sussex, the owner of Angel Wells Farm in Lincolnshire and a former chairman of the British Poultry Breeders Association.
Judge Challinor told Brown; "Without landowners like you, this sort of thing cannot exist. You allowed a gang of criminals to construct this large scale factory on your land. It might have gone undetected for years."
To the rest, the judge said: "The harm cannabis does to our society cannot be underestimated . It is a mind-bending drug. Anyone who says it does not harm to smoke a bit of weed should visit a local psychiatric unit.
"This was cannabis production on an industrial scale.
"Bridges, you were at the heart of the conspiracy. You were not the only leading figure and perhaps not at the very top, but you were close."
The court heard that the set up at the farm was one of the biggest and most sophisticated ever uncovered by the police, capable of producing three crops a year, each worth £2.7 million.
One of the converted barns was so huge, it had a full-size mobile home in it for the 'workforce' tending the plants.
The work done on the barns would, at commercial rates, have cost around £1.4 million. The equipment included a huge generator costing £36,000 and hundreds of metres of cabling. The barns had their own power and water supplies.
Mr Lockhart said: "This gang plainly had an expertise of this type of activity. At the time before the factory was discovered, some members were seen to be involved in the distribution of cannabis grown elsewhere.
"From April until September 2010 when police raided the factory there were a number of days surveillance when they watched these defendants as they went about building that factory.
"Many hundreds of thousands of pounds were invested in a plant designed to reap huge benefits," said Mr Lockhart.
"Bridges was the prime mover of these conspiracies."
But Mr Balbir Singh, for Bridges, told the judge: "He only became involved in this matter as a result of pressure and intimidation short of duress. He was exploited by being tricked in the first place. There are those above this particular defendant and there are the financiers and organisers."
Bridges, a married man with three children, had no previous convictions whatsoever.
Mr Talbir Singh, for Bassett, said his client, a father of four, was not the organiser and had no input in to financing it.
Mr Harbinder Lally, for Brearley, said: "He was clearly taken in by others. He had no knowledge at the outset."
Mobbs was a builder and did not have substantial links with the conspirators, said Mr Ranjit Lallie, defending.
Mr Ronald Jaffa, defending, said Brown was in the business of farming and was not using it as a cover. He was a former chairman of the British poultry breeders and hatchers association.

MS suffer hits out at drugs ruling - UK Government is heartless and cruel.

"DESPERATE" is the key word here!

There are tens maybe hundreds of thousand MS sufferers in the UK alone, and many people that suffer other terrifying ailments and pains, that could benefit from cannabis.

But the Government has turned its back on them by refusing them a whole-cannabis extract medicine that cost millions of pounds and took years to be developed and to convince the authorities that it is both effective and safe, side-stepping the smoking issues by producing it as a spray in alcohol ... made too expensive for many NHS regions to allow on prescription .

Sufferers are also threatened them with arrest, fines and even prison for growing the plant in their own homes for their own use.

The recent imprisonment of WINSTON MATTHEWS is an example of just how CRUEL and HEARTLESS the law can be - 16 months in prison for growing plants - no harm to anyone - beneficial in relieving his pains from a horrific accident 40 years ago.

It's Catch 22 for these sufferers - they cannot get the expensive product of the drug companies and they cannot grow a few plants at home - and Lord help them if they go to dealers!

==

MS suffer hits out at drugs ruling

Todmorden News, February 19 2012.

DESPERATE multiple sclerosis sufferer Kiran Narang says it is criminal she is denied access to cannabis-based drug Sativex, while others are prescribed it.
NHS Calderdale’s policy is to deny patients Sativex, but it has been revealed a Calderdale surgery has prescribed it. A mouth spray, the drug contains cannabinoids, extracted from cannabis plants, which can help relieve the painful muscle spasms MS causes.
Kiran, 52, of Bankfoot Terrace, Hebden Bridge, says she is desperate for the drug as she believes it would improve her quality of life. “The pain is constant – nagging – which in itself can be exhausting. You can’t sleep. It’s impossible.
“I have been told by my GP that she would love to prescribe me Sativex but is not able to. The fact that Sativex is being denied for the majority of people seems almost criminal.”
She added: “It might keep the cost of the NHS down but it’s certainly not helping the people it’s meant to be helping. Congratulations to the doctor for taking that risk.
“I think it’s brilliant because it is a doctor actually saying that there’s a need. I do think it takes a lot of courage to do something like that – which is unfortunate.
“But it’s for GPs to be arguing.
“There are enough people that feel Sativex would be of real, substantial use to them but are told the same thing, except for these lucky people who are getting it,” said Kiran.
Sativex was approved by the Department of Health and licensed in the UK in 2012. It costs £125 for a 10ml vial – about £11 per day per patient.
NHS Calderdale rejected the drug on advice from the Yorkshire and Humber Specialised Commissioning Board, ruling it would not be routinely funded for Calderdale’s estimated 300 sufferers.

Judge hits out at sentence rules as cannabis producer walks free - letter sent

sent to the Daily Telegraph:  dtletters@telegraph.co.uk

"Judge Michael Murphy has criticised new sentencing guidelines on drugs offenders after he gave a man who grew cannabis plants a non-custodial sentence." (Telegraph, Feb 16)

So many times I have read that a Judge has said that he / she can do nothing about the law and that it is up to the Government to make the law and set the guidelines.

Now we have a judge that is upset because he cannot send a man to prison.

Who did this man Cupit harm?  Whom did he put at risk?

It seems to me from this articles, the answer is nobody - so why one earth send him to prison anyway?   The good judge is letting his personal feelings about cannabis come above natural Justice, so often absent from the Courts in cannabis cases.

I ask what Right the police had in entering Mr Culpit's house and interfering with his Right to a Private Life.

Human Rights law makes quite specific criteria that the authorities need to satisfy before interfering with a Private Life: it must be that there is a risk to public health, public order, national security or the Rights of others.  Maybe the police can tell us how the growing of cannabis in private for own use does that?  If not, then the police may have acted illegally: the use of the law as justification is not enough

Alun Buffry
 ==

Judge hits out at sentence rules as cannabis producer walks free 
Daily Telegraph, February 16 2012

Judge Michael Murphy has criticised new sentencing guidelines on drugs offenders after he gave a man who grew cannabis plants a non-custodial sentence.

The judge said the production of cannabis in the area was at epidemic levels
15 Feb 2012
The judge said if 33-year-old Craig Cupit had appeared before him a few months ago he would have been jailed.

But new guidelines from the Sentencing Council for England and Wales which come into effect later this month advise against jailing offenders in cases such as the one before him, he said.

Judge Murphy, one of the most senior judges sitting at Sheffield Crown Court said: "For weeks and months I have been saying in these courts that the production of cannabis in this area is at epidemic levels yet here we are being given guidelines which completely dilute our powers."

He said the last time he dealt with a list of cases for sentence at the court, three-quarters of them involved prosecutions for the production of cannabis.

The judge said he was effectively bound by the new guidelines but added: "I don't want to be but that is what the law says."

The judge told Cupit: "If you had been in front of this court six months ago you would have been going to prison but the law has changed. Many of us find it difficult to understand why."

Sentencing guidelines have been changed by the council in an attempt to make courts more consistent in their approach to sentencing.

The court heard that police raided Cupit's home on September 29 last year and found a cannabis production set-up in his cellar.

Eight plants were growing which it was estimated would yield 896 grammes of cannabis with a total street value of £8,960.

Cupit, of Swinton, near Rotherham admitted producing cannabis.

His barrister Dermot Hughes said his knee was in a "mess" and he used cannabis to alleviate the pain.

He needed a replacement but because of his age would not get one for some time.

Judge Murphy gave Cupit a 12-month community order with supervision by the probation service and ordered him to attend a victim awareness group.

In a separate case, the judge said the new guidelines were "confusing" and a "lottery" as he gave shop owner Neil Tyler, 53, a suspended jail term for producing cannabis.

Tyler, who runs an off-licence at Crookes, Sheffield was found to be growing cannabis in his cellar. He told police: "It's all mine and nothing to do with anyone else."

The plants seized had a street value of £3,200 but Tyler admitted it was his third attempt at growing a crop.

Prosecutors claimed he had grown 24 plants which would have put him in a more serious category for sentencing of up to 26 weeks in custody.

But the defence argued it was only 16 plants and he should be placed in a lesser category meriting a community penalty.

"This had nothing whatsoever to do with financial gain, it was for his own use, " said Jack Danaher, defending. Tyler admitted producing cannabis.

It was said to help him ease the pain in his leg after he was bitten by an insect while holidaying in Mexico.
In deliberating on his sentence, Judge Murphy said of the guidelines: "It baffles me and troubles me. We are trying to get some common sense out of it."

The judge added: "Given the confusion as to where he stands on this lottery it seems to me it is not immediate custody although he passes the custody threshold."

He told Tyler to stop using the drug and said "there are other ways of pain relief."

Tyler was given a four-month prison term suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid community work.

Judge upset that he cannot send victimless cannabis grower to prison

So many times I have read that a Judge has said that he / she can do nothing about the law and that it is up to the Government to make the law and set the guidelines.

Now we have a judge that is upset because he cannot send a man to prison.

Question is: who did this man Cupit harm, whom did he put at risk - seems to me from this articles, the answer is nobody - so why one earth send him to prison anyway?

Judge hits out at new soft sentencing guidelines that forced him to let cannabis farmer go free despite 'epidemic'

Daily Mail February 15 1012, by Eddie Wrenn

A judge who was unable to jail a cannabis farmer despite a local 'epidemic' has criticised new 'diluted' drug guidelines.
Judge Michael Murphy said if 33-year-old Craig Cupit had appeared before him a few months ago he would have been jailed.
But new guidelines from the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, which come into effect later this month, advise against jailing offenders in such cases.

Judge Murphy, one of the most senior judges sitting at Sheffield Crown Court said: 'For weeks and months I have been saying in these courts that the production of cannabis in this area is at epidemic levels yet here we are being given guidelines which completely dilute our powers.'
He said the last time he dealt with a list of cases for sentence at the court, three-quarters of them involved prosecutions for the production of cannabis.
The judge said he was effectively bound by the new guidelines, which attempt to make courts more consistent in their approach to sentencing.
He told Cupit: 'If you had been in front of this court six months ago you would have been going to prison but the law has changed.
'Many of us find it difficult to understand why.'

 

 

Eight plants were growing, which it was estimated would yield 896 grams of cannabis with a total street value of £8,960.
Cupit, of Swinton, near Rotherham, admitted producing cannabis.
His barrister Dermot Hughes said Cupit's knee was in a 'mess' and he used cannabis to alleviate the pain. He needed a replacement knee but because of his age would not get one for some time.
Judge Murphy gave Cupit a 12-month community order with supervision by the probation service and ordered him to attend a victim awareness group.
In a separate case, the judge said the new guidelines were 'confusing' and a 'lottery' as he gave shop owner Neil Tyler, 53, a suspended jail term for producing cannabis.
Tyler, who runs an off-licence at Crookes, Sheffield was found to be growing cannabis in his cellar.

He told police: 'It’s all mine and nothing to do with anyone else.'
The plants seized had a street value of £3,200 but Tyler admitted it was his third attempt at growing a crop.
Prosecutors claimed he had grown 24 plants which would have put him in a more serious category for sentencing of up to 26 weeks in custody.
But the defence argued it was only 16 plants and he should be placed in a lesser category meriting a community penalty.
Jack Danaher, defending, said: 'This had nothing whatsoever to do with financial gain, it was for his own use,'
Tyler admitted producing cannabis. It was said to help him ease the pain in his leg after he was bitten by an insect while holidaying in Mexico.
In deliberating on his sentence, Judge Murphy said of the guidelines: 'It baffles me and troubles me. We are trying to get some common sense out of it.'
The judge added: 'Given the confusion as to where he stands on this lottery it seems to me it is not immediate custody although he passes the custody threshold.'
He told Tyler to stop using the drug and said 'there are other ways of pain relief.'
Tyler was given a four-month prison term suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid community work.
A spokesman for the Sentencing Council said: 'Guidelines should be followed.
'However, where a judge feels it is not in the interests of justice to do so, they can sentence outside of the guideline and up to the maximum set out by law.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101528/Judge-hits-new-soft-sentencing-guidelines-forced-let-cannabis-farmer-free-despite-epidemic.html#ixzz1mTI7MmA8

Unjust imprisonments

Dear Chloe Smith MP, Norwich North

I write with increasing concern after reading that the Courts have imposed prison sentences or suspended prison sentences on people that have chosen to grow their own cannabis for their own use to easing their pains and suffering, in their own homes.

Recently there have been several such cases, the one that is the worst of all in the UK was last week in Surrey when Winston Matthews was sent to prison for 16 months.  He had been given a suspended sentence on a previous but similar case.

There was no suggestion from anybody that the cannabis was other than for his own use and it did not involve anyone else as Mr Matthews lives alone.

He seems to have been completely honest at all times, not making any denials.  Many would think he actually went too far in that for he told the police and the court that he would not stop growing and using it.  Can honesty go too far?

Mr Matthews suffers from very bad back pains resulting from an accident he suffered some 30 years ago when hew as 16 years-old.  He has said that he has tried most medications offered to him by his doctors but finds herbal cannabis the most effective with the least unpleasant side-effects.

He has even been to The Netherlands and obtained a prescription for herbal cannabis, supplied there through pharmacies - but he is not allowed to bring it back to the UK - had he been resident in Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, where cannabis is available on prescription, he would have been able to bring it to the UK under protection of the Schengen Agreement; but the UK Government refuse to allow those resident in the UK to go and get it.

Not only is that unjust, but it appears to be an offence under Human Rights law, which does not allow the different treatment based upon Property, residence even in rented accommodation being property, which is exactly what the Government is doing.  Neither does it allow for a difference in treatment depending upon the property, being cannabis or, say, alcohol.

Furthermore, the raids on Mr Matthews (and others) house also seem to be in conflict of his Human Rights in UK Law, his Right to a Private Life and to practice his personal belief - that cannabis helps him.

Human Rights law is quite specific when it comes to the criteria demanded of authorities before interfering with those Rights: namely that such interference must be in the interests of Law AND to protect public health, public order, or the Rights of others.  The word "and" is all-important - law alone is not enough.

It cannot be said that Mr Matthews posed any risk to anyone else, public order or public health, by growing his plants in his own abode.

Therefore the police raids, the court cases and the sentences all appear to be unlawful or based upon unlawful activities of the police.

I would very much appreciate it if you could discuss this specific case with Mr Matthews' MP -  he lived in Horley, Surrey - and if you would take this matter up with the Home Office and Government - maybe ask a question in Parliament - WHY are they treating people in pain in this way - why does MR Matthews have to spend time in prison even though he has not harmed anybody.

This is certainly one of many cases where the Courts put the Law before Justice.

I would also like to know your personal stance on the imprisonment or suspended imprisonment of such people in such cases of growing cannabis in private for own use.

With thanks

Alun Buffry

Norwich

Cannabis mini-factories on the rise, police warn - the war is lost

Simple logic:

• the police seem powerless to stop people growing cannabis in their own homes
• these people are often growing only for their own use, not for profit
• many people think there are too many drug dealers on the streets
• it costs the taxpayer a fortune in fighting this war against cannabis users
• change the law, save money
• allow people to grow their own cannabis in their own homes for their own use without interference
• issue licenses to commercial growers and private retail outlets for people to but quality-controlled, consumer-protected cannabis and tax the profits - away from crime and hard drugs
• save the taxpayer money, save the police time, save court time, raise revenue from tax on profits, keep cannabis away from alcohol and hard drugs, respect people's Rights to a private life, de-glorify cannabis for kids and ease alienation caused by a bad law that punishes people that have done no harm.

Cannabis mini-factories on the rise, police warn,  

Wales On-Line, February 12 2012, By Clare Hutchinson

DIY cannabis farms are popping up in homes across the nation as more and more users turn to growing the illegal drug for cash.
Home Office figures show police seized almost 50,000 cannabis plants in raids across Wales’ four police forces in 2010-11 and 51,000 the year before.
While statistics for seizures in Wales before 2009 are not recorded, Home Office figures show a massive 473% increase in seizures across England and Wales between 2004 and 2008, from 93,270 plants in 2004 to 535,055 four years later.

Much of this has been attributed to a rise in large-scale cannabis factories, run by organised crime gangs, in which whole houses and warehouses are given over to cultivation of the Class B drug.
But police are now warning of a rise in DIY “grow-rooms” with people converting spare rooms and attics into mini-factories of around 10 to 20 plants.
Many are drug addicts who have turned to cannabis cultivation to feed their habit, while others are using it as a way to bring in extra cash.
On one recent raid in Cardiff, police found 12 cannabis plants growing in a family’s attic – just inches above two young boys’ bedrooms. The electrics had been rewired so the light switch for the drugs stash was in one of the boy’s rooms.
In another, drugs officers discovered a cannabis farm behind a fake wall in a bedroom after noticing a chink of light shining through.
In some cases, illegal growers try to disguise the pungent plants’ smell by keeping animals and spraying air freshener.
Others use extra insulation during the winter to prevent heat from special lights warming up the roof and melting any snow – a tell-tale sign that cannabis is being grown.
Detective Chief Inspector Danny Richards, of South Wales Police, said as well as risking a prison sentence, people growing cannabis were also putting the lives of their families in danger.
He said: “There is a very real fire risk associated with these factories, especially because – in many cases – electrical apparatus like plugs and wires are tampered with and re-routed.
“Stopping the cultivation and supply of drugs is a priority for us and one of the main challenges within the communities we serve.
“We reply on people in these communities phoning us up and talking to us about their concerns with particular properties.”
He said warning signs include blacked-out windows and equipment like plastic plant pots and empty tubs of fertiliser left out for the bin collection.
DCI Richards added: “There is a specific offence of cultivation of cannabis and production of a controlled substance.
“The scale of production doesn’t matter – production of cannabis on any scale is illegal and we will always seek to act on any information we receive.”
Detective Chief Inspector Shane Williams, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “Historically the force has seen properties being used to cultivate cannabis and operations have been conducted to disrupt this production.
“While the number isn’t high the public should be assured action will be taken when required.
“I would ask the public to report any suspicious activity to us.”
A spokesman for Gwent Police said: “The commercial cultivation of cannabis is a national issue, whether it is local cultivation and supply or linked to serious organised crime all forces in the UK are working together with national guidance to deal with such offences.
“In Gwent we have developed good relationships with estate agents, landlords and the utility companies to work together to identify and target offenders.
“We have also received positive support from the public. The majority of cannabis factories we uncover and dismantle come as a direct result of information provided by members the public. We are grateful to residents for their assistance in helping to tackle this criminality.
“There is no simple solution to the problem of illegal drug use, manufacturing or trafficking but when information is provided we act on it. Cannabis is illegal and we will continue to prosecute those involved in the cultivation or supply of any controlled drug.”

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/02/12/cannabis-mini-factories-on-the-rise-police-warn-91466-30312180/#sitelife-commentsWidget-bottom#ixzz1mARtXAao

Man was not a criminal but was still punished for growing his medication

Although I am pleased that this man was not sent to prison immediately it does put him in the unenviable position of having to choose between pain or prescribed drugs that often have unpleasant and risk side-effects and will cost the NHS, or risk jail by growing more cannabis.

I think the judge was correct in saying Andrew Walters was no a "criminal" - after all, he had no victims and put nobody at risk - so I have to ask why he was in court in the first place: the answer is bad law that needs to be changed.

Cannabis grown to treat bad back
Oxford Mail, February 11 2012

A MAN walked free from court despite owning a cannabis factory that had produced almost £60,000 of the drug and was capable of yielding 7kg a year.
Andrew Walters was spared jail because a judge decided he was “not, by any standard definition, a criminal”.
The 50-year-old defendant grew cannabis at his home in West End, Witney, before it was raided on April 21 last year.
Police found 135 plants, £2,630 in cash and hundreds of grams of skunk.
Walters admitted cultivating a Class B drug, an offence he has previously committed.
He was given a suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court on Friday because he used cannabis to self-medicate for a chronic bad back and, although he could have sold on any excess, he had not yet done so, Judge Patrick Eccles ruled.
The judge said: “The fact is, given the medical history, despite the quantity and despite the fact he has been told not to do it before, it seems it’s not in the public interest for him to serve an immediate sentence of imprisonment.”
He told Walters: “You’re not by any standard definition a criminal, but the fact is you are somebody who had decided because of your own difficulties you were entitled to break the law on a significant scale by cultivating cannabis to provide medication for your own condition.”

Judge Eccles questioned the actions of a custody sergeant at St Aldate’s police station who wrote to the court suggesting a caution would have been the best disposal of Walters.
He said: “It’s against the law, no matter how understanding or merciful the custody sergeant might be, but I pay respect to a police officer who has understanding of the difficulties you may face.”

Man grew drug in bid to cure back pain - punished for doing no harm!

Sirs,

There seems to be an absence of Justice in many UK courts when it comes to cannabis cases ("Man Grew Drugs in Bid to Cure Back Pain", News and Star, Feb 11)

Surely the mis-use of drugs act was not meant to stop people from growing plants to ease their pains, although the law does seem to give preference to pharmaceutical businesses that produce expensive pills and potions, including the whole-plant cannabis medicine Sativex, sold at too high a price for most people or NHS regions.

In this case, the "guilty" party (guilty without victims), Michael Richardson, according to the News and Star report, was growing cannabis for his own use but had said he may supply excess to his friends.  However,  the plants were not mature enough so why is the CPS talking about a street value of £6000 and " the prosecution intended to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to claim back any profit Richardson might have made from his crimes" whilst at the same time saying " the prosecution accepted it was not done on a commercial basis" - that does not make sense.

In a Just society, cannabis would be available to people that need it  and people would be allowed to grow their own for their own use in their own homes provided no threat or harm was done to others.  Take it off the streets and out of the hands of uncontrollable dealers - allow commercial cultivation and supply to adults and control the quality, protect consumers, tax profits and save a fortune on policing.

This case must have cost the taxpayer a lot of money and it has achieved nothing but forcing Mr Richardson to take pills for his back.

Alun Buffry

Man grew drug in bid to cure back pain
News and Star, Carlisle, Feb 11 2012
 news.carlisle@cngroup.co.uk
A MAN who grew cannabis plants in his bedroom because he thought the drug might cure his backache has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Police found 25 plants in two rooms when they raided Michael Richardson’s home in Barbara Plains, Eden Hall, Penrith.
He told them he had grown them from seed given to him by a fellow trader at Penrith market in the hope that they would help alleviate the back pain he had suffered intermittently since being injured playing rugby for Penrith 30 years ago.
Prosecutor Alan Lovett told Carlisle Crown Court yesterday that Richardson, 53, had grown the plants in an “unsophisticated” propagation system involving fertilisers, timers and lights from his tropical fish tank.
If they had been allowed to mature they could have produced cannabis with a street value of £6,000, he said.
Mr Lovett said the prosecution accepted it was not done on a commercial basis.
He said Richardson had started off growing the plants for his own benefit, but would have gone on to supply some of the drugs to his friends.
Richardson, who still works as a market trader when his bad back allows, pleaded guilty to a charge of producing the Class B drug.
In mitigation his barrister Marion Weir said he was on a cocktail of three painkillers and had hoped that cannabis might be able to help.
He had not had a chance to sample the drug he had produced by the time the police arrested him, she said.
Richardson was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours’ unpaid community work.
He was also put under an electronically tagged curfew to keep him indoors at home from 8pm to 5am every night for the next 15 weeks.
Mr Lovett told the court the prosecution intended to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to claim back any profit Richardson might have made from his crimes.
But Judge Peter Hughes QC urged him to think again since such action would cost more than the £6,000 that Richardson could be made to pay.
“I strongly urge you to consider whether the benefit to the public of the course you are seeking to take outweighs the possible cost that may be incurred by so doing,” he said.
The judge said that if Richardson had to pay such a bill he might lose his home – with the state then having to pay to find him somewhere else to live.
news.carlisle@cngroup.co.uk

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/man-grew-drug-in-bid-to-cure-back-pain-1.924146?referrerPath=news

Cannabis Found - will have no effect on supplies

oh come off it, raids like this finding large amounts of cannabis or plants have been going on for years and yet we are told there is no shortage on the streets.

it's about time that the Government stopped wasting tax-payers money and acknowledged people's Human Right to a Private Life so that they can grow their own without effecting other people.

take the dealers out by legalising licenses commercial production and sale to adults with consumer protection, advice and TAX THE PROFITS.

the law trying to stop people using this plant - which is enjoyed and found beneficial by millions - that law is a  miserable and costly failure and we, the public, pay!

Cannabis Found, Leicester Mercury, Feb 9 2012

Police have seized 100 cannabis plants worth an estimated £28,000.
An anonymous tip-off led police to the plants, which were inside a property in Humberstone Road, Leicester.
Officers also seized cultivation equipment and arrested a Leicester man during the raid on Monday.
Sergeant Stuart Wood, of Spinney Hill Park police station, said: "I am delighted with the outcome of this raid, which has prevented a large amount of cannabis from reaching the streets."

Cannabis campaign legal bid failure - Law Ruling Forgets Justice

The points raised by James Torrens-Spence all seem to make complete sense to me, and it would follow that the law is wrong when it comes to dealing with people and their property, that is the cannabis crop, grown in their private dwellings.

Not only does it seem wrong to treat people that use cannabis differently to those that drink alcohol or smoke tobacco - both far more dangerous than cannabis it does seem to me to be a breach of Human Rights to discriminate in this way over one's PROPERTY - those superior laws, created to protect us from tyranny and unjust national laws, makes it quite clear.

As it does when it comes to the justification demanded of the authorities to interfere with one's Private Life - the law requires that it must be in the interests of law AND to protect public health, public order or the Rights of others?

How does the growing and possession of the cannabis plant for one's own use in one's own home, not involving others, pose such risks?

It would seem to me that the police had no justification to enter this man's house in the first place.

But, of course, we know that Courts are about law, not Justice

Cannabis campaign legal bid failure 

UTV News, February 8 2012

A man convicted of growing cannabis has failed in a High Court bid to have the drug granted equal classification with alcohol and tobacco.

James Torrens-Spence brought judicial review proceedings over the law which prohibits its unlicensed use.
The 58-year-old, from Downpatrick, Co Down, claimed he was discriminated against and suffered a breach of his human rights.
But a judge at Belfast High Court threw out his case after ruling that he was involved in an "impermissible attempt" to challenge an act of Parliament.
Mr Torrens-Spence was fined £300 last year after being convicted of cultivation and possession of cannabis.
Appearing as a personal litigant on Wednesday, he sought an order quashing the decision not to adjourn his criminal case so he could mount an abuse of process argument.
But his challenge also involved claims of an abuse of power in how the Executive applies the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.
The court heard how he has taken cannabis through a vaporiser in order to stop smoking tobacco.
He argued that the Class B drug should have parity with both alcohol and tobacco.
Mr Torrens-Spence told the court that a failure of policy had resulted in "horrendous discrimination".
However, Mr Justice Treacy ruled that he had failed to establish an arguable case at the preliminary stage of proceedings.
The judge pointed out that he could have appealed his conviction but has not done so.
He also rejected the applicant's claims that he was not challenging primary legislation.
"The reality appears to be that he complains about the fact that the Misuse of Drugs Act on the one hand does not criminalise possession or use of alcohol or tobacco, whereas the legislation does in his view unfairly criminalise responsible users of cannabis such as himself," Mr Justice Treacy said.
"Irresprective of whether or not the applicant regards himself as a responsible user of cannabis which, as he claims, has helped wean him off tobacco, that does not have any relevance to Parliament's view which is that a person who cultivates cannabis and is in possession of it is guilty of criminal conduct."
Dismissing the application for judicial review, the judge added: "The court's function is to interpret the legislation as enacted, not to look behind the legislation."
Outside the court Mr Torrens-Spence said he was "appalled" by the ruling.
He asked: "How is it I'm allowed to smoke myself to death or drink myself to death and no policeman or court in the land can prevent me from doing that?"
Yet for trying to protect my health by switching from smoking tobacco to vaporising cannabis I'm prosecuted."

Cannabis campaigner jailed for growing drugs - comment

It is indeed a sad day for British Justice when a man is sent to prison for growing plants for his own use in his own home to ease his dreadful pains.

Mr Matthews, Winston, had tried many prescribed medications to ease the pains in his back after a bad accident several years ago - he even went to The Netherlands and obtained a prescription for herbal cannabis but was not allowed to bring it back

Had he been living in Netherlands, Germany, Italy Czech Republic where he could get the prescription and supply, he would have been allowed to bring it and use it in the UK under the Schengen Agreement, but the UK Government refuse to acknowledge medicinal value, despite the mountain of evidence.

Yet the UK Government has licensed the cultivation of cannabis by GW Pharmaceuticals that then dissolve the plants in alcohol and produce a beneficial but expensive spray - unsuitable of course for many people due to the alcohol presence and available to few patients because several regions of the NHS refuse to pay for it.

Mr Matthews should have been left alone, the police ought to have respected his RIGHT to a PRIVATE LIFE>

There was no accusation that the crops were other than for his own beneficial use.

Human Rights law specifies when authorities can intervene in a person's PRIVATE LIfe - law alone is not enough reason - it must also be  that public health, public order or the Rights of others were at risk.  Not the case when a person grows plants at home.

And of what benefit to society, at what cost to the taxpayer, we that end up paying for the time of the police, the courts and the prisons - tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Cannabis campaigner jailed for growing drugs
Get Surrey, February 8 2012

By Ben Endley

A PRO-CANNABIS campaigner who refused to stop growing the drug despite repeated arrests has been jailed for 16 months.
Winston Matthews, 55, of Upfield Close, Horley, admitted breaching a suspended sentence he was given on 23 August in 2010 as well as three counts of cultivating cannabis and two counts of possession of the class B drug between August 28 and December 16 the same year.
He had been due to be sentenced last Friday but the hearing was deferred until Monday (February 6), at which point Judge Suzan Matthews acknowledged the case was "unique" but said that the grandfather of two must still be jailed.
The day before, Matthews - an outspoken member of Surrey's Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) - took to Facebook to discuss the case.
He wrote: "All I had to do to get a deferred sentence yesterday [February 3] was lie to a judge and say I'd stop taking cannabis! I wasn't prepared to do that! One love!"
Tom Stevens, defending Matthews, said his client suffered with chronic back pain and used the drug for medicinal purposes.
The reason he grew cannabis himself was so he did not have to be part of an illegal supply chain, the court was told.
Mr Stevens said: "What was asked for on the last occasion was that the sentence be deferred, the reason for that was to allow Mr Matthews time to explore other pain relief options that may be available to him.
"It's quite clear that Mr Matthews has been using cannabis for a considerable period of time.
"The reasons for that have been touched upon by both probation and the prosection but the thing is, for a very considerable period of his life he has lived in pain as a result of a back injury sustained when he was 16.
"Ultimately, the reason he cultivates himself is he doesn't want to be part of any supply chain."
Prosecutor Rhiannon Sadler said police had visited Mr Matthews' one-bed council house on three occasions between August and December 2010 and seized 84 plants which would have produced thousands of pounds worth of cannabis as well as 4.75g of cannabis and 7.36g of cannabis resin.
She added: "There is no evidence available that it is for anything other than his own personal use."
Judge Matthews ordered that the drugs and growing equipment seized from Matthews be destroyed but made no order for court costs or unpaid work.
She said: "You committed further offences within weeks of being in court and receiving a suspended sentence.
"Since October 2009 you have been persistently breaching the law by growing, cultivating and possessing cannabis. The sentence passed on you in 2010 had no deterrent effect at all.
"What strikes me is that here you are again, you know that taking cannabis is illegal, you have a genuinely held view that's a situation that should be changed.
"But the law in this country is abundantly clear and that applies to Winston Matthews, that applies to everyone."

Drugs paraphernalia found in dawn raid - the public will pay the cost.

So the police used a battering ram, a team of five, find nothing but "drugs paraphernalia, including a cannabis grinder, a lighter and rolling papers" and then the police try to use this as a "warning to anyone involved in supplying drugs in Brentwood."   At what cost - it seems like an expensive warning to people other than the poor chap that had his door kicked in.

This man deserves an apology and the law needs to take action because by interfering with his Private Life without justification, the police have acted illegally.

The criteria under Human Rights law - like it or not - is that there must be some threat to public health, public order or the Rights of others.  This was clearly not the case.

Police then go on to say that their operations are hit and miss because they take time to organise - in this case seemingly even giving the victim enough time to go to bed!

As for the lighter and rolling papers being called "drug paraphernalia"  - well yes, often used to smoke the drug-containing tobacco - a poisonous and addictive substance easily obtainable.

And the herb-grinder?  I have seen herb grinders sold in many shops including supermarkets, along with coffee-grinders and so on.  Presumably if it had been used to grind cannabis there would be evidence that someone had at some time used it for that purpose.

The law needs to be changed - even if this man had been caught with a small-amount of cannabis it would not make him guilty of doing harm and prosecution would have been unjust, even if legal.

Inspector Burgess said :"these crimes that blight our community", presumably referring to the cultivation and supply of cannabis rather than the possession of the grinder, lighter and papers!

The answer to that is to take the dealers off the streets and the way to do that is allow people to grow their own in their own private dwellings for their own use and the establishment of licensed cultivators and suppliers with consumer protection, quality control, tax on profits, credible advice and help and separation from hard drugs and crime.

Drugs paraphernalia found in dawn raid

Brentwood Gazette, February 8 2012

POLICE officers smashed open the door of a flat in Warley after a tip-off that cannabis was being smoked and dealt in the area.
Five officers from Brentwood police station barged into the cramped one-bed apartment in Border Edge House, Firsgrove Road, after obtaining a search warrant from magistrates.

A red Enforcer battering ram was used to force open the double-locked front door of the untidy ground-floor property.
In a bid to avoid disturbing neighbours, officers had earlier attempted to use a key to gain access to the flat without success.
The occupant of the flat, a 30-year-old unemployed man, was in bed when the police forced entry.
After initial but brief resistance, the man co-operated as officers wearing body armour combed his home for drugs.
Wearing rubber gloves, the team searched the man's bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and hallway but found no illegal substances.
However drugs paraphernalia, including a cannabis grinder, a lighter and rolling papers, were discovered.
The raid, christened Operation Brompton, took place at 6.50am on Thursday and followed the receipt of intelligence which suggested that packages, possibly containing drugs, were being exchanged outside the property.
Officers left the flat at 7.20am and the occupant was not charged with any offence.
PC Neil Baldock, the first man to enter the property, told the Gazette: "With the paraphernalia that he has got, there is clear evidence of cannabis having been smoked."
Meanwhile, Sergeant Dan Tan, who led the operation, admitted he was disappointed not to have found any drugs.
He said: "It went as well as an operation could have gone but unfortunately with a negative result.
"We always like to get a positive result, even if it is straight possession, because a lot of time goes into planning these things.
"Sometimes with these operations it can be hit and miss – we could come back tomorrow and get a positive result."
He added: "We will continue to monitor it and if we get any more information, we are duty-bound to act on it."
Inspector Jon Burgess, who authorised the operation, said: "We depend very much on support and information from local people.
"If you tell us what you know about suspected crimes and criminal activity in the area, then we will act on that information.
"No drugs were found this time, but nonetheless this is a warning to anyone involved in supplying drugs in Brentwood.
"If we have good reason to know you are committing these crimes that blight our community, we will come for you."

Winston Matthews sent to prison for trying to ease his terrible backpain with home-grown plants

Please send a postcard or letter

Winston Matthews A8167CK
HMP High Down Prison
High Down Lane
Sutton
Surrey SM2 5PJ

(see below for more details about sending mail)

Winston Matthews has been sent to prison for 16 months in the UK for repeatedly growing his own medicinal cannabis plants in his home, to use as an effective alternative to dangerous and expensive pharmaceutical drugs.

British Justice has been thrown out.

This group is set up to help fight for Winston's early release and to support him as best we can.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Winston-Matthews/121612817891093?v=wall

Winston uses cannabis to ease the dreadful pains he suffers as a result of a back injury years ago, he is not a dealer, he is a patient

You can write to Winston Matthews Prison Number : A8167CK
AT HIGHDOWN PRISON, Highdown lane, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5PJ

You can send funds to Winston by sending a cheque or postal order made to "HM Prison Service to THE GOVERNOR AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS, you must include your name and address and Winston's name and prison number it will be deposited into his prison account and passed to him on release.

You can write to your MP via www.writetothem.com asking them to highlight this case to the MP for Horley, surrey. This will mean Winston's MP will get requests/correspondence from MP's all over the UK.

If you go on Holiday send Winston a postcard, if your a lady send him a valentines, if you have sympathy for his illness send him a get well soon card, these things all help.

Thanks for your support.

Follow the link to add badge to your profile pic

http://www.picbadges.com/free-winston-matthews/2486686/
FREE WINSTON MATTHEWS
www.picbadges.com

Letters
When you write to a prisoner you must include your full name and address. In most prisons the letters are searched and can be read before being given to the prisoner.

You can write about anything but letters must not be obscene, name ‘victims’, or be a threat to discipline or security. Do not enclose any items with letters. Make sure you put sufficient postage to cover the costs (anything bigger than A5 counts as ‘large’). Prisoners can normally receive a ‘reasonable’ number of letters per week.

If you send greetings cards these should be of reasonable size and not padded or pouched. Do not send musical cards. If you are sending more than one card put them all inside one outer envelope, this saves postage. Remember to include your full details (you could put your details on a ‘Post-It’ note stuck to the card or include a letter which has your details).

Always put the prisoner’s full name and prison number. If the person has been moved their mail will be forwarded.

On conviction or transfer a prisoner should be given a ‘Reception’ letter to write to tell you where they are.

Prisoners are given a free letter each week to post out, they can send more, but at their own expense. Some prisons allow you to send in stamps.

Photographs
You can usually send in photographs but in some prisons these must not include any image of the prisoner. Child protection measures may mean that some prisoners may not receive pictures of children, unless they are their own and were not ‘victims’. If you send pictures of children include an explanatory note identifying who the children are and their relationship to the prisoner.

Money
It is not a good idea to send cash, this can get ‘lost’ in the prison. Prisons prefer postal orders, but you could send a cheque. Make these payable to ‘H M Prison Service’, write your name on the back and also the prisoner’s full name and prison number. Any money sent which is deemed to be ‘anonymous’ can be stopped.
Money you send is paid into the prisoner’s ‘Private Cash’ account and they get access to a certain amount (depending upon IEP) each week [currently £15.50 for Standard prisoners].

Cultivated cannabis - no harm but punished

Please leave these poor cannabis users alone if they are not harming anyone - it is a breach of the Human Right to a Private Life for the authorities to interfere without justification and the criteria are specific: it must be in the interests of protecting public health, public order, national security or the Rights of others - and how can the use of cannabis in private be that?

CULTIVATED CANNABIS
Cornish Guardian: 1 February 2012

A PENSIONER who has been a cannabis user for 50 years "eats and drinks" the drug, Truro Crown Court heard on Friday.
Kenneth Matthews, 67, of Grimscott Estate, Grimscott, near Bude, was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Truro Crown Court on Friday.
Matthews must also comply with an electronically tagged nightly curfew, from 7pm to 7am, for three months.
"Taking cannabis in that way is a bit unusual," said Judge Christopher Harvey Clark, QC.
"But you have grasped the nettle, as Mr Hilliard [Barry Hilliard, for the defence] says, and have already taken steps to rid yourself of cannabis in your system."
Matthews pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis.
Joss Ticehurst, for the prosecution, said that officers who visited Matthews' home found a total of 65 plants, cannabis leaf material and flowering heads. He used it to make tea. The potential yield of skunk was valued at £5,950 and the other £2,566.
Mr Hilliard said that it was very small scale and amateurish cultivation.