EURO MP ARRESTED DURING CANNABIS PROTEST MARCH

A Euro MP has been arrested for possession of cannabis.

Liberal Democrat Chris Davies was taking part in a protest against what he
called Britain's "ridiculous" drug laws.

He joined dozens of cannabis campaigners for the march through Stockport,
Greater Manchester.

As he spoke to supporters outside the town's police station, brandishing a
tiny amount of cannabis stuck to the back of a postage stamp, he was
arrested and led into the police station by 12 officers.

Protesters, who are campaigning for the release of local man Colin Davies -
who is no relation of the MEP - cheered and chanted slogans as the MEP for
the North West of England was led away.

Chris Davies's move comes after weeks of similar protests in Stockport
following the opening of Britain's first Amsterdam-style coffee shop, in
which people with a medical need for cannabis as a painkiller are given
subsidised "help" in obtaining the drug.

The cafe's owner, Colin Davies, is being held on remand at Strangeways
prison on drugs charges.

Speaking outside Stockport police station, Chris Davies said: "I think it
is very appropriate 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 street. Not one died from taking cannabis," he said to cheers from
supporters.

"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."