CHURCH DISCUSSES 'HARMLESS' DRUG, BUT THE ARRESTS GO ON

THE CAMPAIGN to decriminalise cannabis use in Britain has made an
unparalleled series of advances this week.

Members of the Church of England, the House of Lords and senior members of
Britain's medical community have all been considering the issue in a more
dispassionate atmosphere than before.

A paper released on Wednesday, and due to be debated by the General Synod of
the Church of England at the beginning of next month, refers to this
newspaper's campaign, as well as the fundamentally "harmless" nature of the
drug and the strong case for allowing medical experimentation with the
substance.

The Misuse of Drugs report by the Board of Social Responsibility also
includes a comment made by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham of Cornhill,
last year that decriminalisation was "a subject that deserves, in my
opinion, detached, objective, independent consideration".

It goes on to call for the whole area of illegal drug use to be seen in the
context of religious faith and, in some cases, of the search to renew the
spiritual side of life.

A background paper written for the synod by Rev Kenneth Leech quotes widely
from the Independent on Sunday's campaign and underlines the current
scientific opinion that cannabis use is of no long-term danger to health and
is not in itself an encouragement to go on to take stronger illegal drugs.

Writing since the IoS campaign was launched on 28 September last year, Rev
Leech states: "The calls for decriminalisation of cannabis possession, which
have been the subject of debate in the UK for over 30 years, are likely to
become more frequent."

His paper also quotes this newspaper's criticisms of the limitations of the
Government's recent White Paper entitled Tackling Drugs to Build a Better
Britain, published on 27 April this year.

In support of the IoS stance, Rev Leech writes: "The most positive aspect of
the [Government's] document is the recognition that treatment costs less,
and works better, than prohibition.

"However, the long-term policy implications of this recognition need to be
taken more seriously than any government has so far done."

On 4 July the General Synod will merely be asked to note and discuss the
report and its accompanying background paper, but the ideas they both
contain demonstrate the changing moral attitude to cannabis use within the
Church of England. On Tuesday the House of Lords Science and Technology
Subcommittee heard important evidence from the Multiple Sclerosis Society on
the effectiveness of the drug in combating some of the painful symptoms of
the degenerative illness. A second public hearing will hear further evidence
on the drug's properties at 10.45am on Tuesday 16 June. (Call 0171-219 3107
for details.)

Perhaps this week's most unlikely development, however, was the granting of
a licence to Britain's first cannabis farm.

The government-backed research station was given the go-ahead on Thursday
and can now research and develop the drug's uses as a medicine.

Prior to this, all scientific work on cannabis has exposed those conducting
the experiments to the possibility of a criminal charge for possession.

Dr Geoffrey Guy, a founder of GW Pharmaceuticals, is to grow the drug in a
giant greenhouse at a secret site in south-east England and he expects to be
able to market at least one new drug within five years.

The research plan, reported in the national media this week, will follow in
the footsteps of similar research work being pursued in the United States,
where the government last year announced it is to spend $1m (UKP600,000) on
investigating the uses of cannabis in the treatment of illness.

In Britain, GW will work to isolate THC, the active ingredient in cannabis,
and to test its suitability for therapeutic use. Dr Guy has already
indicated the possibility that patients with multiple sclerosis, Aids,
cancer and glaucoma may all stand to benefit from his work.

He estimates that the research will cost about UKP10m over the next five
years and he is looking for pharmaceutical companies to invest in the new
venture.

The first shipment of cannabis plants supplied by GW's Dutch partner
HortaPharm will be planted in the next few weeks and the first harvest is
expected in late autumn.

In contrast to such positive news, this week police resources have once more
been channelled into dealing with cannabis-related crime.

A mother of two, who cares for her chronically arthritic 54-year-old
husband, has been convicted for making a cannabis soup to ease his pain.

Margaret Startin was fined after police raided her home in Cannock,
Staffordshire, and found plants growing under special lights in the loft.

Mrs Startin said: "We have tried normal medication but these were not
working. I had to try something else. I was desperate." At Stafford Crown
Court on Tuesday she admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and
was fined UKP500 and ordered to pay UKP1,123 costs. Her husband, William
Widdowson, was fined UKP250 after he admitted growing the drug. (e-mail your
comments to: cannabis@independent.co.uk)

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett