CHARITY APPLAUDS CANNABIS RETHINK

Drugs: New Cumbria Debate Follows Law Change

THE GOVERNMENT'S decision yesterday to relax the laws on cannabis was
welcomed by a leading Cumbrian drugs charity today.

In a House of Commons statement yesterday, Home Secretary David Blunkett
confirmed that the drug now be re-classified so that possessing it will no
longer be an arrestable offence.

In future, those caught with small amounts of cannabis will be unlikely to
face a prosecution.

Cannabis will be downgraded to a class C drug, putting it in the same legal
category as anti-depressants and steroids.

Mr Blunkett will also now recommend that approval should be given for
cannabis to be made available medicinal use to help ease conditions such as
multiple sclerosis (MS).

The changes are already fuelling cannabis debate in Cumbria.

Mr Blunkett's announcement was warmly welcomed by drugs workers in
Carlisle, and by Lezley Gibson, the Alston MS sufferer who made national
headlines last year when a jury refused to convict her of possessing the
drug after she convinced them she needed cannabis to ease her symptoms.

"This is absolutely wonderful news," she said today.

Family

"I've never been right since my trial. My health has deteriorated and I've
been worried to death that they going to keep raiding my house. I was
treated as if I was some kind of violent criminal.

"But it's not just the effect on me. It's affected my whole family, ruining
three years of our family life."

Last year, the county's recently retired chief constable Colin Phillips
triggered a national debate on the issue when he said he would turn a blind
eye to cannabis use if he encountered it at a party.

Paul Brown, director of the Carlisle-based Cumbria Drug and Alcohol
Advisory Service said: "This re-classification is a sensible and credible
move, particularly with young people.

"If this means they will not acquire a criminal record, that's a good thing."

But retired Carlisle policeman David Morton and Carlisle city councillor,
said he feared the softening of the law could represent a first step on a
"slippery slope' towards even more liberal drugs laws.

SIDEBOX: The Cannabis Debate

FOR: "THIS is a big step in the right direction. Carrying cannabis should
not be regarded as being any different to carrying a packet of cigarettes
in your pocket. What somebody chooses to do with their own body should not
be an issue.

"Cannabis helps people relax. Just compare that to the way people can
behave after downing four or five pints. The only problem with cannabis is
the legal issue for people who use it.

"There are also medicinal benefits of using cannabis. My wife Lezley
suffers from MS and gets a lot of relief from muscle spasm and pain thanks
to cannabis. It's also a great reliever of stress. People will now be able
to take their medicine in the knowledge that that knock on the door is less
likely to happen.

"People appearing in court for possessing cannabis is just ridiculous. It
was ridiculous that people were being stopped in the street and searched on
suspicion they possessed what is basically a plant.

"I now want to see the full legalisation of cannabis, There should be
premises where it can be supplied to people, along the lines of the Dutch
model."

Mark Gibson, who was the Parliamentary candidate for the Legalise Cannabis
Alliance in the Penrith and the Border constituency.

AGAINST: "IN my view reclassifying cannabis to make it a class C drug is
all but decriminalising it.

"It will no longer be an arrestable offence to possess it. My view about
drugs is simple: if they are not using them for medicinal reasons, they
shouldn't be using them at all.

"It will mean less work for the police. But there's always a danger that
one drug can lead to another. If people develop a liking for a particular
drug, their system may eventually become immune to it, and if they no
longer get a kick out of it, they may look for something stronger.

"The reclassification of cannabis could he the first step on a slippery
slope. Where will it lead? People will be saying that amphetamine is
harmless and that we should reclassify that.

"If cannabis is effectively legalised, it will knock the bottom out of the
market, and dealers will look at pushing other drugs. It could increase the
supply of harder drugs."

*David Morton, Belt city councillor and retired police officer