LEGALISE DON'T PENALISE

WHEN the law decides to relentlessly pursue a 68-year-old grandmother whose
only crime is that she uses cannabis at home for pain relief, it is surely
time to take stock and consider how much time and money is being wasted on
something that should be as much down to personal choice as wearing black
or white socks.

The declassification of cannabis to a class C drug could have effectively
decriminalised it, saved millions in police and court resources and, with
the proper guidelines, created a whole new tax revenue stream for the country.

But for the fact that my dad won't allow what he refers to as "that
cannabis" in his house because he's a decent, law-abiding citizen, my
mother could at least have the option of finding a new and effective pain
relief for her chronic rheumatoid arthritis instead of the crap that is
constantly buggering up her liver.

For so long the excuse of cannabis leading to worse things has been used to
scare people off. Yet lighting up a Benson & Hedges doesn't make your
habitual smoker want to start skinning up, so why should a joint mean the
downward spiral to smack is inevitable?

If you have an addictive personality, there's as much chance of a liking
for doughnuts leading to a Black Forest Gateaux-a-day habit.

What harm is one little old lady doing to society? She's not a dealer,
she's not profiting from the stuff she grows and she's not threatening the
very fabric of our society with her medicated hobnobs and cocoa.

The statement from a Northumberland police spokesman outside the court last
week as Patricia Tabram was sentenced to a 250-hour community service order
was typipcally officious: "We take drug abuse very seriously and are keen
to use all tools at our disposal to eliminate drug dealing and use in the
community."

What he should have said is: "We take our crime figures very seriously and
will continue to hound easy targets like this dopehead pensioner instead of
tackling the real scum who sell crack to schoolkids or the detritus of
society who don't think twice about battering old people for their pension
money to get their next fix."

The road to recovery starts with the first acceptance of the problem.

And Patricia Tabram, or indeed anyone who wants to bake a hash cake or roll
up a skunk-filled doobie for their own use, are not the problem.

They're the excuse.