CANNABIS CAMPAIGN - LEGALISE IT, SAY TOWNSWOMEN

AT THE age of 70, and newly appointed the head of an organisation that
itself is approaching 70, Marjory Hall is an unlikely radical.

Yet, as chairwoman of the Townswomen's Guild since Thursday, Mrs Hall is
now manoeuvring her 80,000 troops behind the campaign to legalise the
medical use of cannabis. It is a prospect she relishes.

"I have a very clear mandate to go forward on this issue," she told the
Independent on Sunday this weekend as she took in the outcome of the
Guild's historic decision.

Delegates who attended the annual meeting in Birmingham voted
overwhelmingly to back a proposal that the use of the drug should be
legalised for the alleviation of pain. The vote was 1,153 for the
decriminalisation of cannabis and 407 against.

"I was surprised when it became clear that there were such strongly
supportive views from the floor," said Mrs Hall.

"It soon became clear that they were not going to be in favour of smoking
it for pleasure, but they were very supportive of the medical case."

Mrs Hall concedes that the average age of the Guild's membership is
probably 60, but she says age is a question of mindset and the organisation
is recruiting hard among the younger generation. She points out, too, that
the organisation has radical roots. Founded in 1865 from the women's
suffrage movement, the Guild's slogan was then, and is now, "Leading women
forward".

The Guild's stance on the cannabis issue will now be militant, Mrs Hall is
determined. Members attending the debate found the personal testimony of
Clare Hodges, a 38-year-old mother, MS sufferer and director of the
Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, particularly convincing, she said.

"Listening to that mother, I thought, 'How can I deny her something that
will relieve the pain?'

"After all, we have never heard of any deaths from cannabis. It is about
fighting for the right to care for these people."

* email your comments to cannabis@independent.co.uk

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)