MYSTERY BENEFACTOR PAYS CANNABIS FINE

A Letham man facing prison after admitting growing cannabis has been
given a get out of jail card by a mystery benefactor.

Colin Cameron (58) was convicted for growing 10 pots of the plant and
ordered to pay a UKP 100 fine last October.

In January, Cameron came before the courts again when he failed to pay
the UKP 4 a week penalty.

Sheriff George Evans agreed he could pay it at UKP 2 a week but
Cameron who is unable to work because of crippling sciatica and
survives on benefits said finding the money would be difficult and was
prepared to spend seven days in jail if necessary.

But recently when Cameron, the Scottish Socialist Party's drugs
spokesman and a member of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, made it
clear he could not pay the fine, a warrant was issued for his arrest
and he went into hiding.

Gratitude

However, he emerged from hiding on Monday to say he had received a
telephone call informing him his fine had been paid.

Expressing his gratitude to the mystery benefactor, he said: It was a
great relief and I am extremely grateful to the person or persons who
have set me free.

My case and cases like it clearly demonstrate the injustice of the
current cannabis laws, when a person can be jailed for trying to
relieve their own pain.

Of course, someone on the salary of, say, an MP or a sheriff could
have paid this fine without batting an eyelid. But you are doubly
punished if you are poor.

He went on : Although I use cannabis mainly for medicinal purposes, the
Scottish Socialist Party campaigns for the legalisation of the herb.

Reluctance

We clearly have won the argument over the issue, going by all the
opinion polls. I believe the only thing now standing between the
Government and a change in the law is their reluctance to admit they
are wrong and that people have been wrongly jailed as a result.

It shouldn't have taken an anonymous donation to ensure my freedom. I
should never have been prosecuted in the first place.

During the court case on January, Cameron's solicitor, human rights
lawyer Aamer Anwar, said the situation breached his human rights and
said no-one should have to suffer pain in order to obey the law.

Although Cameron admitted to growing the drug, he explained he used it
to control pain caused by an old rugby injury to his vertebrae.

A plea of not guilty to a charge which alleged he was in possession of
the drug was accepted by the procurator fiscal.