IT'S THE CANNABIS BATTLE BUS

Legalise Cannabis Alliance candidate Mark Gibson launched his campaign for
the Penrith and the Border seat at the weekend - from an F-reg Nissan Bluebird.

Mr Gibson said the launch timing was prompted by seeing TV footage of Tony
Blair's campaign bus broken down at the roadside.

"There was that huge piece of expense doing nothing," said Mr Gibson, from
Alston. "We haven't got the funds for a bus." Instead Mr Gibson has put
Alliance logos on two cars being used for his campaign, and is asking
supporters to wave or flash their lights and to put cannabis leaf posters
in their windows.

Mr Gibson hopes to meet other candidates head-on, and has already been
offered meeting space in Alston.

"I want to discuss policies with a positive approach, not get into a
slanging match," he said.

The health benefits of cannabis are at the heart of his campaign.

Mr Gibson's wife Lezley, an MS sufferer, was cleared of possessing the drug
last year after a jury decided she was entitled to smoke it on medical grounds.

But the Alliance is also fighting on a wide range of cannabis-related
issues such as human rights, the environment, agriculture and law and order.

"I understand it takes 10 hours of police time to caution someone for petty
possession," said Mr Gibson.

"This is a complete waste of time when the police could be making the
streets safe for our grandparents to walk back from bingo."