Cannabis Referendum Before General Election?
source: http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/200907051107/green/eco-news/cannabis-referendum-before-general-ele...
-
-
- ras_menelik
- added this
The British cannabis community has been run roughshod over ever since the Misuse of Drugs act was implemented in the 70's, but now its hoping to fight for a more scientific basis to our nations drugs laws, by asking for a national referendum on the legality and the practicality of reclassifying cannabis a class B drug.
http://pr.cannazine.co.uk : When former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith wasn't watching porn paid for by the tax payer with her husband Richard Timney she was changing laws which frankly many British voters thought didn't need changing.
"So much for the democratic process" said many of her opponents.
And to drive home her opinion she would often be 'sparing with the truth' in an attempt to garner support for her points of view.
One such statute Ms Smith attempted to foist on the Great British public involved mandatory ID cards.
A law which Gordon Brown decided to enforce support for with use of "the whip". A tool used to make sure party members do not rebel by voting against the government.
Indeed Redditch MP Smith even commented on TV how many people had approached her to ask and I quote, "when are the ID cards coming".
Although the press would suggest a totally different public response to the thought of having to carry an ID card.
Cannabis
Cannabis law was also a hobby-horse of the self confessed ex-cannabis consumer, who admitted to smoking the evil weed whilst at university.
On the announcement of the law change in January 2009 the then Home Secretary announced "I am not prepared to wait and see if the British youth may or may not suffer mental health issues as a result of cannabis use, so I am changing the law to protect them".
And in doing so Jacqui Smith went against every scrap of expert evidence offered in the run up to the law change, pandering instead to the right wing press in a bid to save the already doomed Labour party.
And perhaps the fact she tried to use a public health issue as a political ping-pong ball may have had something to do with her growing unpopularity at the time?
In the meantime the United Nations has recently pointed to the 'class A' drugs problems which have befallen the United Kingdom. Pointing to the fact the UK now has a serious problem with cocaine and heroin. A problem which isn't going to fix itself anytime soon, whilst the Police sit by the bus load outside the home of a cannabis grower who may only be growing a few plants for himself.
-
-
ras_menelik
-
Europe (and the US?)
A situation which is perfectly legal in many European regions we would ordinarily call trading partners and allies at war.So its with a General Election looming large on the horizon that the British cannabis community would like to ask the Prime Minister and the Labour party to prove their reasoning for changing the laws against cannabis, by asking the British public if they believe it should be changed to a class B drug, with the jail sentences which will inevitabely follow?
The truth is, Jacqui Smith showed her total misunderstanding of the cannabis issue when she said she didn't know if it did cause mental health issues, as the United States has for over 30 years provided cannabis to those who have a doctors recommendation, and during the same period Holland has adopted a policy of 'tolerance' and in doing so has removed cannabis from the level of black market trade which manifests as a result of prohibition.
Prohibition as seen in the UK.
With around 50 million global citizens having legal access to cannabis as things stand today one would assume a super-power such as the UK claims to be, would have the tools necessary to find out how many people have been affected by cannabis related mental health issues in the last 30 years.
So to help them out a little here's the stat Ms Smith and the Labour party were looking for. Mental health runs at around 1% of the population here in the UK, around the same amount as in other geographical regions which have varying degree's of legal access to cannabis.
So threatening to lock people up in a British prison simply for trying to find the relief offered to our American or Dutch cousins who have access to legal medical cannabis is barbaric and inhumane.
The UK is meant to be one of the last bastions of democracy and if this is indeed the case isn't it about time they proved it by asking the public, by way of a national referendum, what classification cannabis should be rated at?
This isn't a request for the out and out legalisation of cannabis. Nothing could be further from the truth.
What's being asked for is the transparency and scientific input which other pharmaceutical drugs are granted as they are trialled and brought to market.
Lets face facts shall we? If it was left to the science, cannabis would be legal in under 12 months, whilst substances such as tobacco and alcohol would become controlled Class C drugs.
But maybe thats the problem?
Indeed maybe we should be taking a closer look at the personal investment porfolio's of those who are most against the normalisation of cannabis, to find out why such a beneficial and versatile plant is being denied us?
Ask your MP for a national referendum on cannabis law.
CannaZine Cannabis News
http://pr.cannazine.co.uk - 2 years ago
-
ras_menelik
