[THS] U.K. : Open letter to Kenneth Clarke ­ Minister of Justice

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

Open letter to Kenneth Clarke ­ Minister of Justice
9th June 2010

Dear Mr Clarke

The Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) is concerned with the welfare of
the millions of victimless cannabis users in Britain.

I am writing to you to ask for a face-to-face meeting, something we
never had under Labour apart from an agreement to meet with Charles
Clarke whilst he was Home secretary. Unfortunately he was sacked for
other reasons before the meeting happened and his successors John Reid
and Jacqui Smith refused to honour that agreement.

Previously, the LCA was a registered political party (1999 to 2006).
We contested over 80 elections - Parliamentary and local. Our
candidates gained up to 8% of the vote in local elections and where
there was an all-up election for local councillors in Great Yarmouth
some 16% of voters gave one vote to the LCA candidate Mike Skipper.

Under Labour, cannabis was downgraded to class C with positive
results. It was then upgraded back to class B (seemingly due to media
pressure and vote-winning ambitions) even though the ACMD advised
against it.

Literally tens of thousands of people are arrested for cannabis
possession or cultivation despite the fact that they have no victims
to their so-called crimes. That includes people who use cannabis to
alleviate the symptoms of some really dreadful ailments and injuries.

Cannabis prohibition offers no protection for minors. On the black
market there are no controls or regulations and no minimum age
required for purchase. Cannabis can also be adulterated or
contaminated with noxious substances far more harmful than cannabis
could ever be.

Cannabis users in the UK feel alienated and stigmatised, although few
break any laws other than possession or small scale cultivation at
home. We do not feel that we have adequate representation in the
political arena. We feel ignored until we are arrested; then we are
punished for our choice of natural substance that is beneficial to us.
Over one million people in the UK have been to court for cannabis yet
so few have been harmed themselves, let alone not having harmed
others.

Where is the Justice in that?

In many parts of Europe medical and social use are now recognised.
Lately the Czech Republic changed laws to allow the small-scale
cultivation and possession of cannabis without prosecution. Other
countries with liberal or tolerant views on cannabis include:
Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Australia and
Canada. In the UK however, we trail behind.

The cannabis law presents a daily problem to millions of people and
we feel that a solution to your party's desire to reduce harm from
drugs would be best met under a system other than prohibition - we
have several proposals to make regarding this problem.

We look forward to hearing from you in the very near future, with a
view to a conversation with you so that we can each present our point
of view and seek a progressive move and better understanding.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Baldwin (Campaign Coordinator)

PP

Jan Wells (Secretary), Winston Matthews, Steve Barker, Don Barnard,
Alun Buffry BSc

Challenge http://www.lca-uk.org/node/7 <../../../../../node/7>

P & A's http://www.lca-uk.org/node/8 <../../../../../node/8>

Election results http://www.lca-uk.org/node/14
<../../../../../node/14>



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