If there is no intention to sell, how can a cannabis crop be worth money?

Time after time I read that some person has grown a crop of cannabis - sometimes matured, sometimes not - for his or her own use, with no allegation of intent to sell, then read that it is estimated to be of some financial value.How can a crop be worth money if there is no intent to sell?The article below is yet another example of how the press wrongly deal with reports of court cases against personal cannabis crop cultivation."Ramsell was growing the drug for his own use.."

"I am satisfied this was a personal use crop and not a crop for supply. But even those who produce cannabis for their own use can expect a custodial sentence."

"The cannabis would have been for his own use, it was a first crop and would never have been for commercial sale."

Yet the Tanworth Herald reports also:Prosecuting Pat Sullivan said the crop would have produced just over one kilo of cannabis that would have fetched £6,300 if sold on the streets.

How can it have been worth £6300 if sold if there was no intent to sell - what relevance is the estimated value?Why don't they tell us something that is far more relevant - the cost of the arrest and court case - the money that the taxpayers will be covering arresting a man that appears to have done no harm or had no intent to harm anyone with his indoor crop of cannabis?Add together cases such as this, it amounts to billions each year - now THAT is of public concern, that is hurting us the taxpayers - all in the name of stopping people from growing one particular plant for their own use.This must stop.  They tell us we are in financial crisis yet they unnecessarily and unjustly perpetuate a prohibition that soaks up our tax money as a sponge in water.

Tanworth Herald, December 8 2011

Addict who grew cannabis tampered with test samples
http://www.thisistamworth.co.uk/Addict-grew-cannabis-tampered-test-samples/story-14080141-detail/story.html

 AN "ENTRENCHED" drug addict caught growing cannabis at his Tamworth flat has been jailed for eight months by a judge.

Police found 34 plants under cultivation in a sophisticated hydroponic system at Lee Ramsell's home, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting Pat Sullivan said the crop would have produced just over one kilo of cannabis that would have fetched £6,300 if sold on the streets.

Ramsell was growing the drug for his own use.

Judge Simon Tonking had given him a chance to go on a drug rehabilitation programme, adjourning his case on condition he stopped taking cannabis.

But the judge was told that Ramsell had tampered with his samples to produce negative results for the drug testers.

Ramsell, aged 31, of Juniper, Amington, admitted a charge of cultivating cannabis.

Judge Tonking told him: "I am sentencing you for producing cannabis. It came to light because you volunteered information about it when you were under arrest in relation to a different matter.

"The police went to your home and found a hydroponic set up growing 34 plants. I am satisfied this was a personal use crop and not a crop for supply. But even those who produce cannabis for their own use can expect a custodial sentence.

"You are an entrenched drug abuser and it is difficult for people like you to get off drugs. Despite the opportunity I gave you, you are still taking cannabis. I am not going to increase the sentence because you tried to dupe those testing you.

"Although you have been found suitable for a drug rehabilitation order, if you are going to produce false samples to IDAS (the drug advisory service) there's the chance you are going to do the same to the drug rehabilitation team."

Daniel Oscroft, defending, said it had to be accepted that the test samples provided by Ramsell were false. He had tampered with them out of a fear of being sent straight to custody.

The cannabis would have been for his own use, it was a first crop and would never have been for commercial sale.

UK Judge Wants to Imprison Medicinal Cannabis Growers

SHEFFIELD’S top judge Alan Goldsack must be a very sad man.  He has threatened that anyone in South Yorkshire caught growing cannabis would be sent to prison immediately, and has started to carry out his threat.   Will he be sending people in wheelchairs to prison?

The Judge said " “Six out of the 14 cases on my list this morning involve producing cannabis on various scales.”

Well, Alan, that's your job to deal with the people that the police arrest and if they arrested fewer, you would see different people before you.  It sounds to me that you are complaining because they have all been up in court on the day day.  It is not the "fault" of one grower that gets caught that other growers that are caught appear before you on the same day - why should they be punished more heavily for that?

Rather than looking at statistics, ought you not be looking at the question of Justice?  You should be asking whether these people have done any harm or posed any threat to Public Health, Public Order, National Security or the Rights of Others - as demanded by Human Rights Law.

According to both national and international Human Rights Law there are strict criteria demanded before any authority can interfere with one's Private Life or Belief system - and if the activity is limited to ones Private Life and not involving others, that criteria is not fulfilled and the invasion (raid) by police may itself  be unlawful.

Surely the Judges should ask themselves whether the police raid and arrest were lawful or not before even looking at the case.

No victim, no harm, then how can this be a crime.  The fact that it may be against the law to cultivate cannabis  is NOT enough to justify the interference with one's life.

Worse still this judge is fully aware that the "punishment" dished out does not stop at the prison gates.

Judge Goldsack said " “A criminal conviction and jail is potentially going to ruin your life.
“It will potentially mean you lose your job and, if you are the breadwinner, that will impact on your family.
“You will find it difficult in future when you come out of prison to find a job because you have got a criminal record, particularly in the current economic climate, and there is a stigma that will remain with you for the rest of your life.”

So, Judge, by sending people to prison you are punishing them for the rest of their lives.  That cannot be right!

Britain, like many countries, has huge numbers of ill or injured people who cannot get any prescribed medication to ease their suffering sufficiently so have resorted to growing cannabis which they will say is more efficient with less risk of unpleasant side-effects.

In the Netherlands, Italy, German and other countries, cannabis plant material is available of prescription.  Not so in the UK.   The Schengen Agreement even allows people living in countries where cannabis is prescribed to them, to bring their medicinal cannabis with them; but if one lives in the UK and go and get prescribed cannabis abroad then one cannot bring it back to the UK legally.  That cannot be right!

In Canada, the High Court forced the Government to grow cannabis to meet the needs of the sick.  Not so in the UK.

One the contrary, here in Britain, our Government allows the Pharmaceutical companies to grow cannabis and to extract all the chemicals to make a spray containing alcohol.  "GW Pharmaceuticals" sell this whole-plant extract at extortionate prices, to the NHS.  It is called "Sativex" and in truth it is nothing more than cannabsi in alcohol with peppermint flavouring.

Yet anyone preferring to grow their own cannabis, saving the NHS money, doing no harm, easing their sysmtoms, will now be sent to prison.

Soon prisons will become hospitals - they will have to deal with people with serious ailments and injuries and pains - from Multiple Sclerosis to Epilepsy, Rheumatoid Arthritis to cancer.

We, the taxpayers, count the cost of these unjustifiable arrests, court cases, prison terms and pills.

We, the taxpayer, pay your wages Judge Goldsack, and we are not happy!

Judge vows to put anyone growing cannabis immediately behind bars : The Star, Sept 15 2011

SHEFFIELD’S top judge has issued a stark warning to anyone caught growing cannabis in South Yorkshire - immediate prison awaits.
The judge said the number of cases of production of the Class B drug was on the rise, and he was dealing with three or four at court every single day.
Many defendants were unaware they would be jailed immediately, he said - even if it was their first court appearance, they had no previous convictions, and they were growing the drug for their own use.
Judge Goldsack told one defendant: “Six out of the 14 cases on my list this morning involve producing cannabis on various scales.”
And he added a guideline case at the Court of Appeal earlier this year ruled sentences for cannabis-growing “should be higher than they had been”, and should “always result in immediate imprisonment unless there are exceptional circumstances”.
“The Court of Appeal - putting it in simple language - has said the courts have got to get tougher on this,” he said.
“Cannabis is a dangerous drug and those who bring it into existence must be punished.”
Among those jailed at Sheffield Crown Court were:
- Property developer Matthew Whitehead, aged 43, of Wightwizzle, Bradfield, Sheffield. He was jailed for three years and nine months after £94,000 worth of skunk cannabis was found in the garage loft space of the £1 million listed barn he was renovating in Cawthorne, Barnsley.
- Kevin Slater, 43, of Coltfield, Birdwell, Barnsley, who was given three years for producing cannabis, and possessing a Class C drug and cocaine with intent to supply both. His cannabis plants were found in the loft during a police raid on a property in Wisewood.
- Stuart Brown, 40, of Hay Green Lane, Birdwell, Barnsley, jailed for six months for producing eight cannabis plants with a street value of £9,140. His mother, who is suffering from a tumour in her eye and was accompanied by his elderly father, wept in the public gallery as he was sent down. The court heard Brown had lost his job at Mercedes Benz because of the court proceedings.
- Delroy Behan, 25, of Wellington Street, Goldthorpe, Barnsley, jailed for six months for cannabis production. Police found growing paraphernalia in the attic of the home he shared with partner Lisa Parton, 35, and seized five plants worth £9,070. Parton narrowly escaped custody after admitting allowing her home to be used for the production of cannabis. She was given a 26-week jail term suspended for a year and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
Detective Superintendent Richard Fewkes, in charge of South Yorkshire Police’s drugs strategy, said over the last five years officers in the county had seized cannabis with a street value of over £40 million.
He said the rise in production could be linked to the downgrading of cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug five years ago.
Warning others not to get involved in the drug’s production, he said: “A criminal conviction and jail is potentially going to ruin your life.
“It will potentially mean you lose your job and, if you are the breadwinner, that will impact on your family.
“You will find it difficult in future when you come out of prison to find a job because you have got a criminal record, particularly in the current economic climate, and there is a stigma that will remain with you for the rest of your life.”
He added: “It’s very difficult to hide the fact you are cultivating cannabis, even on a small scale. We undertake targeted operations but we are often alerted by members of the public. Neighbours might smell it or visitors might become suspicious.”

 

Wake up call to prohibitionists? Your policy has failed!!

At last, many ex-heads of state, ex-Government ministers, academics and celebrities seem to be coming together to reveal the total disaster of the prohibition of drugs policies.

Since the prohibition of drugs experiment was started back in the 1920's and particularly since the adoption of the world-wide UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, which led to the Misuse of drugs Act in the UK in 1971, we have seen disaster after disaster.

Whilst criminal gangs have made huge un-taxable or laundered profits and their victims have suffered from both ignorance (lack of credible advice and legal protection) through some drugs, the hypocritical law-makers have favoured the use of other and often more harmful substances like alcohol and tobacco, and Governments have taxed users heavily.

Lack of advice and quality control has led to countless deaths, untold crime, gang-warfare and an almost endless list or problems mostly brought on by the prohibition policy itself - a policy that has left the supply of what are clearly commercially viable, if not universally desirable, consumables.

Whilst police spend massive amounts of taxpayers' money - many billions of pounds each year in the UK alone, the result has been simply atrocious - to the point that it is hard to justify the policy on any level.   The law often punishes the people it ought to protect - the "victimless" users; it enables criminal profits and creates addicts often driven to crimes of acquisition to pay the high prices for dubious quality drugs of unknown strength - whether cannabis, cocaine, heroin, LSD or whatever.  Strangely enough, in the UK and many countries, alcohol and tobacco are the exception, as well as being the biggest killers.

Now a group of ex-Government leaders and academics, as well as celebrities, have come together to demand that the UK Government end the failed policy of drug prohibition and take control; this comes at a time when a  well-respected international body (The Global Commission on Drug Policy) has declared the "war on drugs" a total failure.  

The 19-member commission includes former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and former US official George P Schultz, who held cabinet posts under US presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Others include former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker,Mexico's former President Ernesto Zedillo, Brazil's ex-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, as well as the current Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou. The panel also features prominent Latin American writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, the EU's former foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The list of those that have written to the UK Government demanding an end to prohibition includes Dame Judi Dench, Julie Christie, singer Sting, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and former Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth..  It is also supported by Film director Mike Leigh, actress Kathy Burke, three former chief constables and leading lawyers.

The open letter to the UK  Government, which was published by the campaign group Release, reads: “We call on the Coalition Government to undertake a swift and transparent review of the effectiveness of current drug policies. "

It concludes: "The failure of the current UK system of criminalisation is clear. It is time for the UK to review its policy and adopt a health focused, evidence based approach to drug use."

The UK Home Office was quick to respond, with a standard letter: "The immediate reaction from the Home Office last night was to rule out any such move: "We have no intention of liberalising our drugs laws. Drugs are illegal because they are harmful – they destroy lives and cause untold misery to families and communities."

Strangely enough, almost the same words as used by the last Labour Government when Bob Ainsworth MP was himself a Home Office minister.  Mr Ainsworth seems to have changed both his job and his tune - but NOW maybe he is speaking more honestly and sincerely than previously, who know?

Either way, to see this report from the The Global Commission on Drug Policy and letter to the Government is somewhat refreshing, even though the initial response remains as boringly thoughtless and hypocritical as ever.

When will the prohibitionists wake up to the FACT that their failed and costly policy is doing far more harm than good?  Or maybe it is them that makes the biggest profits all along?