GREENS' DRUGS MAN JAILED FOR GROWING DOPE

LONDON (Reuters) - The Green Party's drugs spokesman has been jailed
for growing cannabis at home, the group says.

Police charged Shane Collins with possession and cultivation of the
drug after finding 19 cannabis plants in the basement of his south
London home.

Collins, who stood unsuccessfully for the Greens in the 2001 general
election, began a six-week jail term on Monday.

"Putting someone in jail for doing something that has manifestly
caused no one any harm is ridiculous," Darren Johnson, Green Party
leader in the London Assembly, said in a statement.

"This just reinforces our view that the law is in urgent need of
reform."

The Green Party advocates the legalisation of cannabis to follow the
Dutch system of regulation and decriminalisation of recreational drugs
such as amphetamines and ecstasy.