The War on Cannabis Users is an Expensive Failure

I have lived through over 40 years of seeing and reading about people being busted for growing or selling and of course it has an effect on some people - they have to find a new source or grow for themselves - but in terms of overall availability I have seen no change and in that 40 years the Government have spent many BILLIONS of pounds, hundreds of billions fighting their "war."

A war has two sides; in this case there is just one side - "them"

"They" are invaders, invaders of our Rights and our lifestyle.

Indeed a costly and for me pointless war, but like so many wars it appears they will fight to the death - the death of the people they claim to be fighting for.

And what is the war about - it seems to be about stopping people from growing a versatile and beneficial plant that poses no danger at all to the vast majority of users - and if it was about THC then the Government should allow the more widespread and license free cultivation of low-THC plants that we generally call "hemp".

"Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right." [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr].

http://www.ccguide.org/index.php

Winston Matthews is a political prisoner

I think by now we all realise that Winston Matthews is not locked up just because he broke a bad law, but because he made such noise about it being a bad law.

Winston is apolitical prisoner and his incarceration brings shame on UK justice, UK courts and the UK Government.

His probation officer saying that he ' she has been asked to keep an eye on Winston is first a breach of confidence and secondly, well that is part of the job of being a probation officer.

The "joke" is: if Winston does all his time without probation he will be as "free" as the rest of us - free to break the law and free to get locked up despite harming nobody - he will be able to move about, go abroad, seek employment where he chooses, live with whom he can - he will have greater freedom than if he is released sooner on probation and risks re-arrest.

I believe NORML UK, ENCOD and other groups and activists should start to make more noise that Winston is a political prisoner
.https://www.facebook.com/groups/freewinston/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/freewinston/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/415927165113356/

Child, 11, among children in Norfolk caught with cannabis - comment

Whilst congratulating police for doing their job I must ask is this really necessary to protect society?  The present law whilst aimed at reducing cannabis use has in fact merely attracted criminal profiteers and street drug dealers and even enabled children to buy cannabis and maybe even hard drugs.  At great expense to the taxpayer we have sen this getting worse and worse over the years, achieving next to nothing apart from criminalising users.

What is needed is a new approach - along the lines of the Dutch Coffeeshops, outlets for adults, supplies quality controlled, consumer protections, separation from hard drugs and taxation on profits.

Face the facts, people will grow and use cannabis - the cultivation and possession for own use are victimless "crimes" and if nobody is harmed then nobody should be punished.

The law needs changing to recognise that in fact cannabis users that do no harm to others deserve the protection of law like those that drinkers have, not punishment by it.

Otherwise this will go on and on with more and more people being criminalised and alienated.

Child, 11, among children in Norfolk caught with cannabis

Evening News, June 4 2012


A child aged just 11 was among more than 3,500 people hit with police street cautions for cannabis possession in Norfolk over the past six years, new figures have revealed.


Norfolk police say an increase in such cautions in the past 12 months, along with a hike in fixed penalty notices for cannabis possession, shows police takes the use of the Class B drug seriously.

Police have the option of using a street caution when someone is caught for the first time with a small amount of the drug for personal use.

Figures revealed using the Freedom of Information Act shows that since 2006, 3,683 street cautions have been issued, with 618 issued in 2011, up from 567 on the previous 12 months.

Eighteen-year-olds were the age group hit most often with street cautions, with 519 dealt with that way, including 87 last year.

But there was also an 11-year-old who was issued with a street caution in 2010, while 11 other children aged 16 or under were caught with the drug.

If people are caught with cannabis for a second time, then police can issue a fixed penalty notice of £80.
Since their introduction in 2009, 378 people in Norfolk have been issued with penalty notices for cannabis possession.

Last year, 177 were issued, up on 133 in 2010. The youngest fined was 17 and the eldest 72.

Since 2010, a further 1,186 people have been dealt with through other cautions, the youngest being 13 and the oldest being 66.

A spokeswoman for Norfolk police said: “Cannabis use is often associated with anti-social behaviour and other criminal activity, and we are committed to tackling these issues in our communities.

“Cannabis misuse is harmful. The constabulary continues to take cannabis possession seriously, as indicated by the number of interventions and appropriate case disposals.

On the tender age of some of those dealt with, she said: “It is always a cause for concern when young people choose to misuse any drug.

“The constabulary continues to work hard with its partner agencies, through the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Partnership to deliver harm minimisation messages.”

Man used cannabis to combat anger - will he be punished for not using NHS drugs?

Why is it that we keep reading articles about people that grew and used cannabis in their own homes to their own medicinal benefit being taken to court and punished for it?

"Mr Tomlinson said: "He felt it would be better to take cannabis than Prozac."

For sure I am convinced that is true.

As for the estimate of value - had it been sold - well that just goes to show that nobody knows the yield until it was ready - and IF he had sold it (which seems down to what the police "believe"), would his customers have been victims or other people that felt the plant was better than expensive pharmaceutical drugs.

It's almost as if the courts are telling us "buy our drugs - if you grow cannabis we will make you pay!"

And the taxpayers will be made to pay either way, either for the NHS drugs or the court cases. 

 

Man grew cannabis to help him calm his anger problem
Derby Telegraph, May 19 2012

A SELF-EMPLOYED engineer grew cannabis plants to self-medicate his anger problem, a court was told.
Police found 20 plants at Lee Priest's home in Derby Road, Heanor.
They were growing under three timer-controlled lamps in a basement, magistrates in Chesterfield were told.
Becky Mahon, prosecuting, said the plants had a potential street value of between £3,600 and £11,250, depending on their yield.
Priest told police he was going to let them grow for another fortnight and then check on the internet what to do next.
Ms Mahon said: "He said he had anger management issues and smoked up to half an ounce of cannabis a week, and he used it to relax himself.
"Police believe he would keep some for his own use and sell the rest to subsidise the outlay for future crops."
Kevin Tomlinson, in mitigation, said Priest had been prescribed Prozac for depression but it had an adverse effect on him.
Mr Tomlinson said: "He felt it would be better to take cannabis than Prozac."
Priest, 33, admitted producing 20 cannabis plants between January 1 and March 12.
He will be sentenced on July 13. He was granted bail.

 

Does busting cannabis growers make people feel safer?

Well I guess people will feel safer in their lives knowing that the plants will be destroyed and all that cannabis won't reach the streets.  Of course most of those that want to but cannabis will get it anyway, others will step in to fill the ever-growing gaps in the illicit market, sold to them by dealers even more unscrupulous than this grower was in by-passing the electricity bill, maybe selling dangerous contaminated cannabis even to young teenagers, possibly offering hard drugs, avoiding paying any sort of tax on their profits ...  until they too have their operation closed down, and so on for who-knows how long?

And taxpayers are the ones to pay the cost.

Would it not be better to allow people ton grow their own in their own houses for their own use - would it not be better to allow licensed commercial cultivation and supply with consumer protection, separation from crime and hard drugs, for adults, with credible advice, good quality and known strength, profits taxed, some sort of control?

It would certainly save police time so they could better focus on serious crime that does put us at risk - then we may sleep better at night

Blackburn Citizen, 18 May 2012, by Vanessa Cornall,
Tip-off leads to Accrington drug farm raid

A TIP-OFF helped police close down a cannabis farm in Accrington.

Officers discovered around 50 mature cannabis plants and a ‘huge’ bag of dried ‘bush’ at an empty house in Stevenson Street East yesterday morning.

Mature plants and cultivated leaves were found in three rooms of the property.

The house had been staged to look like someone was living there, but it was obvious the house had not been lived in.

Springhill Community Beat Manager, PC Shazia Bibi, led the investigation.

She said: “We found two rooms full of plants and one room was being used to cultivate the drug.
“It’s hard to put a figure on the total of this find but it is very substantial and easily more than £20,000.”

The grower, had bypassed the electricity supply to run his lamps and transformers from the mains.

As well as the plants, police confiscated transformers, lights and fans.

PC Bibi said: “The house had clearly been staged to look like someone was living there. There were children’s toys on the table in the lounge for example. But a deeper search proved no one had been living there.

“We think someone has been visiting daily to water the plants and to open the windows.

“Our investigation will now focus on who had access to the house.”

Prohibition Policies Reveal Government Corruption and Ignorance

According to The Report of the FCDA, Europe, on Cannabis, it could be grown in huge quantities on waste land; the tops and heads available for medicinal and recreational use, the seed used as food and animal food, the seed oils used too, the hurd and textiles used for clothing, paper, canvas, even building bricks and chitboard, and plastics too - what is left used to make biofuels, safely, easily, locally and environmentally friendly. Anything left, thrown back into the land. The revenue from sales of bud would mean virtually free fuel!

The people would gain more independence from giant petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies, from drug dealers, suffer less pollution and save money.

Any Government that refuses to acknowldge that are liars.

Any Government that still claims that the harm caused by cannabis outweighs the benefits, are either fools or have a vested interest in prohibition, just like the alcohol-gangster-supporting prohibitionists in the USA that supporteed alcohol prohibition last century.

No sense punishing for victimless crimes

It makes no sense to me for the law to punish somebody just for breaking the law - that is tyranny - that is why Human Rights were written - unless there is threat or harm to others or their Rights, public health, public order or national security, the authorities HAVE NO RIGHT to interfere with PRIVATE LIFE or RIGHT TO HOLD AND PRACTICE ONE'S CHOSEN BELIEF OR RELIGION

Message sent to Dutch Tourist Board

to: nbtc4you@holland.com

I have visited The Netherlands many times and always enjoyed the fact that I could go into a Coffeeshop and enjoy a quick smoke of cannabis (without tobacco) in peace - now for "foreigners" the only alternative will be to drink in a bar, which will mean more drunken foreigners and less safety - maybe I won't be coming again - I don't come only for the cannabis, by the way, there is plenty in the UK too.

When I first visited Amsterdam in 1975, there were very few coffeeshops. I was offered cannabis and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin on the street - lost my money twice - right then I thought never again would I visit that city. Then I found a coffeeshop and was able to buy and smoke some cannabis in safety and peace.

It is a shame that the Dutch Government have taken this step - and act of discrimination for sure, even if the courts say it is not due to the fact that cannabis is still illegal to possess and supply there.

Now Dutch cities will become like many other cities: beautiful buildings and sites, great multi-cultural people, but streets with drug dealers and runners on every corner, probably a worsening hard drug problem and all that goes with it.

Alun Buffry, UK

I went to Netherlands in 1975, before there were many coffeeshops

I went to Netherlands in 1975, before there were many coffeeshops, I did not go for "drugs". But i was offered cannabis and hard drugs on the streets - so I bought some cannabis which turned out to be house brick.

Then I found a coffeeshop, a safe and friendly environment where I could buy good quality, be advised on strength, and smoke in safety.

Since then I have been to Holland several times - not specifically for drugs- - but often visited relaxing and safe coffeeshops where no hard drugs are allowed.

If this ban comes into effect, I guess I and others will be the targets of street drug dealers again, dealers that often may offer hard drugs too.

So Dutch streets will see more drug dealers - Dutch economy will see less income - drugs will be associated with crime again.

Of course those that go to Netherlands just for cannabis, may not go again, so there will be less tourists, less trade.

It seems to me that this proposed ban is just a jobs-creation scheme for street dealers.

Netherlands judge to rule on cafe cannabis ban

BBC News, April 27 2012

A judge in the Netherlands is due to decide whether foreign tourists should be banned from entering cannabis cafes.

While soft drugs are tolerated, there is growing concern at tourists visiting just for drugs, and foreign dealers selling illegally at home.
The ban is due to start in three southern provinces next month, with a nationwide one by the end of the year.
A group of cafe owners are arguing at The Hague district court that the ban is discriminatory against foreigners.
If the measure is approved Dutch residents will still be allowed into the cafes, as long as they have valid identification, or possibly hold a new "weed pass" which is also being debated.
Michael Veling, a spokesman for the Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association, is among those challenging the plan.
"It is going to cost me 90% of my turnover," he told the BBC World Service. "That is a very good reason for anyone to oppose any plan. Second it puts our customers in a very difficult spot, because why do you have to register to buy a substance that is still illegal?"
There are about 700 coffee shops, as they are called, in the Netherlands. The cultivation and sale of soft drugs through them is decriminalised, although not legal; police generally tolerate possession of up to five grams of cannabis.
Tougher approachThe BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague says the nationwide ban is being strongly opposed by the Mayor of Amsterdam because around a third of the city's tourists visit to smoke cannabis in the cafes.
If the coffee shop owners lose their case they say they will take it to the European Court of Human Rights, on the grounds that the Dutch should not be allowed to discriminate against people on the basis of where they live.
The moves are part of a tougher approach to drugs introduced by the coalition Conservative-led government elected 18 months ago.
In October strong cannabis was reclassified as a hard drug, amid concerns that it has a psychotic effect on some users.
The move forced cannabis coffee shops to remove the more popular stronger varieties from their shelves.
In November the city of Maastricht brought in a coffee shop ban for foreign tourists from all countries, except Belgium and Germany, from where the majority of foreign customers come.

If they do no harm and pose no threat, leave cannabis users alone.

Sirs,

I read the story "Cannabis use brought on by grieving" (Carmarthen Journal, April 25).  The man Mark Phillips had apparently started using cannabis more often after his father died.  He was caught with half a cigarette containing cannabis said to have been worth £1.50 - "if it was whole, with its value estimated as "pence"."

What sense and what justice was there in arresting this man and taking him to court, where he was given a conditional discharge with £85 costs?

In this case, it is reported, the man was driving his car - well if that was the case and he was detrimentally effected by cannabis, he ought to have been arrested for dangerous driving.  But it seems that it was not his driving that attracted police attention but the smell.

There have been numerous studies on the effects of driving whilst under the influence of cannabis that show that there is little or no bad effect on driving skills and none at all if the cannabis had been smoked the night before as Mr Phillips claimed.   In fact, reports say that it makes drivers less tense.

Don't the police and courts have better things to do with their time - time the taxpayers are charged for?

Does the arrest and prosecution make anybody feel safer - did it prevent harm or risk of harm?   I cannot see how he could have been harming anybody else?

It's time the authorities stopped treating victimless cannabis users like this.  If they do no harm and pose no threat, they should be left alone, not criminalised.

Alun Buffry

'Cannabis use brought on by grieving'

Carmarthen Journa, April 25 2012
journal.star@swwmedia.co.uk

AN UNEMPLOYED Llanboidy man used cannabis to help deal with the death of his father, a court heard.
Appearing before Carmarthen magistrates, Mark Phillips, 30, of Old Mill admitted possessing half a herbal cannabis cigarette on March 26.
The cannabis cigarette was said to be worth £1.50 if it was whole, with its value estimated as "pence".
Prosecuting, Gerald Neave said police stopped Phillips, driving in his silver Peugeot 206 near Llanboidy.
He said the officer could smell cannabis from the vehicle.
Phillips admitted to smoking cannabis and handed over the drug. He was arrested and bailed.
During police interview, Phillips said he smoked half the cannabis the previous night, claiming it was a present from a friend.
Defending, Aled Owen said Phillips had a history of social cannabis use, which had increased after his father passed away.
He added: "In recent times he's started using it on a more regular basis after the death of his father, he finds it a way of medicating himself."
Mr Owen placed the value of a full cannabis cigarette at £1.50, adding: "The mathematics will tell you you're talking about pence."
He added: "He is trying to move away from this cannabis misuse brought on by his bereavement and is getting help through counselling."
Phillips was given a 12-month conditional discharge, and was ordered to pay costs of £85.