GREENLEAF MAGAZINE

The first hearing of the Action Class for Freedom from Government Prohibition of Therapeutic Cannabis took place on October 21st. Judge Marvin Katz proposed this suit might be settled if the 165 plaintiffs were given the same facility as eight patients who receive 300 pre-rolled spliffs a month from the government under the "Compassionate Use Program" which was discontinued in 1992. The plaintiffs have to be lobbied about this proposal and the government have to come back with a better explanation as to why this program has been discontinued. In a new move Oakland City declared the staff of medical cannabis buyers clubs to be officers of the city. This is expected to make them invulnerable to prosecution under federal law. Judge Charles Breyer in the District Court did not agree, but he also rejected federal attempts to send in US marshals to shut down the club. It is hoped the case may end being tried before a jury. Meanwhile in Stockport, Manchester, Colin Davies, who was cleared by the court for cultivating plants on medical grounds, for his back pain, plans to set up Britain's first grow and supply club for medical users, including MS victims.

Scientists, sociologists and lawyers moved on from the legalisation debate to consider practical methods of regulation of cannabis, at a Conference in London in September hosted by Release and the Lindesmith Centre. This is an issue that splits activists, some calling for licensing, others for registration, and some holding out for complete freedom ("no more restrictions than on cabbages").

Chris Rowley and three other Welsh cannabis users who have all been arrested for possession or cultivation during 1998, have hit back by serving an indictment against Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, Lord Bingham, the Lord Chief Justice, and Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, alleging the crime of Tyranny. The recent report of the FCDA, Europe, and other papers are presented as evidence and Magna Charta, the UN Declaration of Human Rights are cited, the main thrust of the case being that the exercise of the law is itself a crime, compounded of perjury by prosecution evidence, breaches of Equity and Justice and of personal freedoms. The Universal Church of the Holy and Sacred Herb, following their smoke-in at Norwich cathedral, have issued a manifesto demanding those responsible for prohibition be tried for Crimes against Humanity, Crimes against peace, Tyranny and Malfeasance. Jack Girling, Tina Smith and Alan Buffry of the CLCIA have also stated: "The prohibition of cannabis is also contrary to Human Rights Articles which guarantee the right to choose one's own lifestyle, to hold, change and practice one's belief, without arbitrary interference from the state. Thus the prohibition of cannabis is an act of Tyranny and those who prosecute and punish are guilty of Malfeasance"

This upping of the offensive and this new language by activists denotes their frustration at the slow results of the "decriminalisation" and "legalisation" campaigns, which the State tends to answer by saying "Ah, Well, we can't be sure how harmful it might be, we need to do more research, it would not be in the public interest to say cannabis is OK, it would send the wrong signal to young people that drugs are all right, etc. etc." This ignores the fact that an estimated 2-5M adult people are using cannabis in this country today and are being persecuted, it is a human rights issue. They are no longer asking the government for "permission" but saying, stop infringing our rights and freedoms. The language has radically altered.

Glastonbury shop, In Harmony with Nature, won the civic award for the floral display in its hanging baskets. However police found some small cannabis plants in the display, and arrested the owner of the shop, Mr Free Rob Cannabis. Plants of this kind seem to be springing up all over town, the council said, in flower beds and around the war memorial. Mr Cannabis delights in opportunities to appear in court and declare the plant a gift of God, and prohibition contrary to the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Police watched from a safe distance as Mr Cannabis met with 300 others and passed round a "pipe of peace" in Hyde Park, London, shortly afterwards.

Vancouver's front line store, Hemp BC was raided once again on the evening of September 30th by police who behaved with great violence throwing a woman onto the concrete, punching a man in the kidneys, and dragging them painfully by the handcuffs. Money and merchandise were taken from the store. A sit down developed and other protests including an egg throwing incident. A man who had some eggs was choked unconscious by plain clothes police and thrown into the police wagon still unconscious. Live media reportage hit the headlines and Hemp BC immediately re-opened for business.

The Dutch Embassy web site has attempted to counter what they see as incorrect and misleading statements relating to drug use and crime in the Netherlands in the U S press. In general young people use cannabis less than in the US. Among 15 year olds 29% have ever used it, 34% in US, 41% in UK. This does not support the arguments that the Dutch method (of strictly licensed clubs) leads to increased use, or that any loosening of the law of possession would be bound to increase use, as the UK government always claims. Holland has 160 heroin addicts per 100,000 while US has 430. The murder rate is 1.8 per 100,000 (8.22 in US), 73 per 100,000 are in prison (645 in US), $27 per head is spent on drug enforcement ($81 in US) http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/drug-inf.htm.

The largest ever study of drivers injured in traffic accidents was reported in The Canberra Times on 21st October. Those with high blood alcohol were culpable in 90% of accidents. Those with cannabis in their blood were to blame in 50.6% of cases and "drug-free" drivers in 53.5%, in other words those who didn't smoke were more at risk, although this difference may not be significant. Researchers at Universidad Complutense de Madrid have discovered that cannabis derivatives caused the death of tumour cells, while leaving healthy cells unaffected.

Church of HASH [email protected].

CLCIA [email protected] Tel 01603-625780

OZ Road accidents [email protected]

US medical suit counsel [email protected]

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