CLARKE AGREES TO MEET CANABIS GROUP

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has finally agreed to meet a city-based
pro-cannabis group amid mounting controversy over the classification
of the drug.

The Legalise Cannabis Alliance has secured a meeting with the Norwich
South MP at the Home Office in London next week.

Mr Clarke had previously snubbed the organisation, but has now agreed
to listen to what it has to say.

The meeting comes at a time when drugs are top of the political agenda again.

A new study demonstrating the link between psychosis and cannabis -
written by Prof Tom Barnes - has just been published, adding more
pressure on the Government to take a fresh look at the price paid by
increasing numbers of young people dependent on cannabis.

This week, Surrey coroner Alan Crickmore called into question the
Government's drugs laws after claiming that, in one of every 100
heroin-related cases he presided over, cannabis was also being used.

Two years ago, the Government downgraded the classification of
cannabis from Class B to Class C, but Mr Clarke is coming under
increased pressure to regrade it.

Instead, he has ordered a sweeping review of the laws covering
illegal drug abuse, after accepting research linking it to mental illness.

Today, he explained why he had now agreed to meet the alliance, which
regularly puts forward nominees to run for seats on Norwich City Council.

Mr Clarke said: "The purpose of the meeting is for them to set out
their case on the question of cannabis and we will have an exchange of views.

"It's an opportunity for them to say what they consider the
Government should be doing and I will listen."

But he added it was "very unlikely" he would reclassify cannabis.

Alliance spokesman Don Barnard said he was delighted Mr Clarke was
granting it an audience. "This is something we never expected to get
and we shall be taking advantage of it. We have been trying to get to
meet Home Secretaries for years, so I am pleased this has come about.
We hope to address the issues we disagree on. We will be saying that
the Government should involve cannabis users in the development of
future cannabis policies and decisions."

He added: "We are not planning on persuading him to change his views
on classification of the drug, but we want to be involved in policy-making."

What are your views on cannabis and other drugs? Write to Evening
News Letters, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE, email
eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk or visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk/ forums