Rejected Petition: Remove cannabis and cannabis products from the Misuse of Drugs Act.

 Remove cannabis and cannabis products from the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Change policy to bring an immediate halt to the raiding of the private property and the arrest and prosecution of citizens for the possession, cultivation and supply of cannabis until and after cannabis is removed from the Misuse of Drugs Act.

More details

The application of the Misuse of Drugs Act against people for victimless cannabis activities is contrary to common justice and Human Rights Laws. There should be commercial outlets where adults can safely purchase, consume and socially share cannabis with consumer protection, hygiene, quality control and tax on profits. See more: http://www.ccguide.org/challengeintro.php
https://ccguide.org/safety.php
https://ccguide.org/potent.php
https://www.safeaccessnow.org/cannabis_safety

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 9 February 2021
From HOC Petitions Committee

Dear Alun Buffry,

Sorry, we can’t accept your petition – “Remove cannabis and cannabis products from the Misuse of Drugs Act.”.

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/551846

Click this link to see your rejected petition:
View your rejected petition

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards:
https://petition.parliament.uk/help#standards

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 9 February 2021: Appeal

To: HOC Petitions Committee <petitionscommittee@parliament.uk>
Subject: Appeal against rejection of petition

I would like to appeal the rejection of my petition  “Remove cannabis and cannabis products from the Misuse of Drugs Act.”
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/570910

which has been rejected on the grounds that there is a similar petition, namely "Legalise medical and recreational cannabis in the UK"
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/551846

You have said "There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue."

First the petition to legalise cannabis is impossible to fulfil, as cannabis is a substance and cannot be legal or illegal: it is the human activities that are limited by statute.  My petition is about human rights and human activities, not drugs.

Secondly even legalisation of cannabis activities is not the same as the removal of cannabis from the Misuse of Drugs Act

Alun Buffry, petition author

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9 February 20211

From 
HOC Petitions Committee

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your email. I have logged this as an appeal.

We aim to consider all complaints about moderation decisions within 7 days, and will notify petitioners if it is likely to take significantly longer than this.

All complaints about moderation decisions will be considered by one or more team member not involved in the original moderation decision. These will normally be trained moderators who are part of the Petitions Committee team.

Once we have considered your complaint, we are unable to enter into further correspondence unless there is new information that wish to raise with us about the decision.  Any further consideration will be undertaken by the Clerk of the Committee and, when appropriate, with the Chair and Members of the Committee.

If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact with me.

Kind regards

Sabbir Ahmad
The Petitions Team
UK Government and Parliament
petitionscommittee@parliament.uk
House of Commons, Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA
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10 February 2021

From 
HOC Petitions Committee

Dear Alun

Thank you for your email.

This has been escalated to me as one of the officials who considers appeals, and I have looked at your petition, the moderation decision and your subsequent appeal about the decision of our moderators.

While I understand that you have couched your request in different terms to the petition we have open on this subject, we do not accept multiple petitions that in effect make the same request - in this case decriminalising/legalising the use of cannabis. I take your point that the wording of the open petition is to legalise medical and recreational cannabis, rather than associated activities, but we believe it is sufficiently clear from the text of the petition what it wants to achieve.

If there is a specific outcome that you want to achieve that is different to this, we could accept a petition requesting a different outcome, provided it was clear what that outcome was and that is was clearly distinct from decriminalising/legalising the use of cannabis. If you would like help to draft a new petition that is sufficiently different to the existing petition we could accept it we would be happy to do this, if you can let us know what outcome you would like to achieve.

Kind regards
Ed


Ed Faulkner
Second Clerk
Petitions Committee

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10 February 2021

To HOC Petitions Committee

 Thank you Ed, for your comment and offer of help:

What I want the government to do is to immediately change the way the 
law is applied and stop the authorities from raiding people's private 
property when they suspect possession, cultivation and sharing of 
cannabis UNLESS they can show that there is a risk to public health or 
the Rights of others as demanded by Human Rights law criteria for 
interfering with a persons Right to a Private Life and Right to Choose 
and practice their own beliefs, alone or with others

although I see this as a first step I believe it is an essential change 
in policy, not law, to bring the application of the MODA in line with 
Human Rights and common justice.

Alun Buffry

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10 February 2021
From HOC Petitions Committee

Good afternoon Alun

Thanks for getting back to me.

I completely understand your objections to current legislation – and its enforcement – and desire for these to change, but the outcome you have requested does seem to be the same as that which would be achieved by the existing petition we have on this issue. I would therefore encourage you to sign and promote this petition, as a single petition on an issue is more likely to secure the support necessary to become entitled to a Government response or debate.

 When this petition closes – on 28 March – we could accept a new petition on this issue, so you might like to start a new petition then.

 Best wishes

Ed

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10 February 2021
To HOC Petitions Committee

I will certainly do all that, but I have to say that I disagree a - change in policy on how a law is applied is not the same as a change in law