MEP ARRESTED IN CANNABIS MARCH

An MEP has been arrested for cannabis possession after supporting the owner
of a Dutch-style 'coffee shop' in Greater Manchester.

Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West, joined other
campaigners to march through Stockport to the town's police station.

The march was to draw attention to Colin Davies, no relation to the MEP,
who advocates cannabis use and is currently on remand on drugs charges.

Mr Davies spoke to supporters outside the town's police station before
brandishing a tiny amount of cannabis stuck on a postage stamp.

Dutch Experience

Protestors cheered and chanted slogans as the MEP was arrested and led into
the station by 12 officers.

His arrest follows weeks of support for Colin Davies who is being held at
Strangeways Prison in Manchester.

He was charged after opening the "Dutch Experience" coffee shop in
Stockport where people with a medical need for cannabis are given
subsidised "help" in obtaining it.

Speaking outside the police station on Saturday, the MEP called for a
relaxation of drug laws.

"I think it is very approriate we are standing outside a police station the
day after the chief constable of Wales called for the legalisation of all
drugs.

"Earlier this week, a report said that some 800 people died of cirrhosis of
the liver from drinking alcohol which is available from half the shops on
our high streets.

"Not one died from taking cannabis.

"I think this is a ridiculous situation and it is one which Colin Davies
first tried to address several years ago when he started taking cannabis
for the pain caused by his spine injuries.

"Hundreds of British politicians admit in private that the law on cannabis
is a nonsense.

"It is time more of them spoke out publicly.

"It is not surprising that many police officers admit that they have better
things to do with their time than arrest people for a supposed offence
which causes no harm to anyone else."

'Depressed And Anxious'

But Dr Steve Taylor, a GP from Prestwich in Manchester, said: "As a doctor
I see the harm cannabis does to people."

He pointed out that cannabis-users can experience short-term memory
problems, and those who try to stop using the drug can become depressed and
anxious.

Other people had found cannabis a stepping stone to harder drugs, he added.

On Friday North Wales Police Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom compared the
current drug laws with alcohol prohibition in the USA in the 1920s, which
he said was an "unmitigated disaster".

In the Netherlands, coffee shops which sell cannabis have been permitted
for nearly 20 years.