20/01/2008 00:00:00
UK: Home Office Guilty of Deceipt on Cannabis Issue
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Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has invited cannabis users to London to take
part in a debate regarding the future classification of cannabis, even
though, according to news reports , the decision is already made and
reclassification will take place. And regardless of what the influential
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs actually advises the Home Office.
In a show of arrogance from the Home Secretary which beggars belief,
Jacqui Smith ignored a government directive instructing her not to speak
to journalists on the subject. And in doing so she has made it clear
both she, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown had already made the decision
that cannabis would be reclassified later in the year, back to a class B
drug, which carries with it stiffer prison sentences and higher fines.
"In light of this new information which has come to light" said Ian
Malley, a spokesman for cannabis pro-reform website The Canna Zine
(http://cannazine.co.uk), "one can only assume the Home Office has
attempted to "hood-wink" cannabis users from all walks of life, by way
of the application form which must be filled into attend the ACMD
meeting which takes place in London on February 5th 2008, supposedly, to
discuss a decision which has already been made?"
Disclosure
The application to attend the ACMD meeting, which must first be
downloaded from the Home Office website, requires a full disclosure of
the applicants personal details.
These details include their name, address and telephone number.
"Clearly a good many people were set to fill in this application in good
faith, but now it seems it was a rouse. A sting operation being set up
by a government who clearly planned to invite cannabis users to London,
collect and store their details, reclassify cannabis regardless of the
advice given by the ACMD, which then leaves the people who filled in
their personal details and attended the meeting in something of a
precarious situation."
"I for one use cannabis, and have done for the last 5 years in a
personal battle with alcoholism. Whats to stop the government using my
personal details against me?" "In light of this situation there's
nothing stopping them. It would appear they are capable of absolutely
anything," continued Mr Malley.
Distrust
The feeling of distrust for the government doesn't stop with the
attending cannabis users.
According to Professor Les Iversen, a pharmacologist at Oxford
University as well as a member of the ACMD advisory council, "If ACMD
were to recommend no change and this reclassification were to happen
regardless, I believe it would be the first time that any Home Secretary
acted against the recommendations offered and it would call into
question the whole function and future of this group."
A former member of the ACMD, Reverend Martin Blakeborough put things
firmly into perspective by saying ""There is no way that the ACMD would
support any reclassification of cannabis."
Rev Blakeborough, who runs the Kaleidoscope drug abuse charity, said:
"There is no significant new evidence to suggest that cannabis is any
more harmful than in the last review we did 18 months ago."
"The only reason that the ACMD is being forced to discuss this matter in
the first place, is because every new Home Secretary seems to want to
show how tough they are."
"In light of this information, it must surely destroy any shred of trust
fringe groups such as the cannabis community may have had for the
government and we can only hope these underhanded dealings, allied to
their shambolic last 6 months in office, signal the end of what has
turned out to be the most untrustworthy, incapable government for many
years," said Ian Malley.
"No Confidence"!
http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&Itemid=27
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13183
Author:
CannaZine via UKCIA
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