POLITICAL PRESSURE TOWARDS LEGALISATION

Labour would do well to adopt a policy of PR as well as calling for the end to prosecutions for personal use or growing. In Norwich 1997, Howard Marks gained about 620 votes and LCA in 2001 about the same when I stood, about 1.5%. In wards LCA gained up to 5%, even more elsewhere. The LCA had been founded, as you know, to bring the debate into the arena and give campaigners a voice, to influence the other party policies. As you know the last LCA candidate was in 2006. In 2005 general election the LCA vote had gone down to half that, about 0.8%. Politics had become more complicated by issues that people gave more priority to, such as ID and Iraq. Since then there were less than successful attempts at standing under the banner of CISTA.

Also give the estimated 4 million tokers, the million or so that have been criminalised or persecuted, the families, IF only that were a true political force.

To put pressure on the parties we should be telling them that IF they want our support and voted then they MUST stand for Justice and Rights in all issues and pledge to legalise, and see how far they go. The Green Party and Lib Dems both changed policies as result or political pressure, not because they had already recognised even some of the real issues that cannabis and hemp are connected to.

BUT what I saw on FB running up to the election was numerous people more or less saying they would vote Labour / Corbyn, to get rid of Tory / May, irrespective of the fact that Labour are pro-prohibition.

Don't get me wrong, they should have voted Labour if that is how they felt (as did I, after consulting the candidate to find our his views and getting a positive reply. Nobody know how any of us actually vote - but POLITICAL PRESSURE is before the election -

so to further to cause of ending cannabis prohibition, and all other issues we choose to fight for or against, do you agree that we should try to focus again on building an effective political force, with or without a new or existing party

I believe that if Labour had called for legalisation and put it in their manifesto, they would have won more seats, including Norwich North where the candidate Dr Chris Jones told me he supported legalisation but as far as I know did not say so in public or on his election literature.
 http://www.ccguide.org/lca/election_results.php