Source: Mid Essex Gazette, UK

Date: 11 September 1998

PRO-CANNABIS CAMPAIGNER'S PLEA ON REPORT

A PRO-cannabis campaigner from Braintree has highlighted research collated by a European health body claiming that the drug is harmless.

Don Barnard, 55, of Aetheric Road, has now written to the chairman of the district's Drug Reference Group asking it to verify or denounce the report's conclusions.

Mr Barnard, a representative of the Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International, has also forwarded a summary of the report to Home secretary Jack Straw and drugs czar Keith Hellawell asking for their responses.

The Family Council on drug Awareness claimed cannabis was benign and non-toxic, did not induce dependence or lead to harder drugs and its prohibition was unjustified.

Braintree district Drug Reference Group chairman Ashley Bartlett said he would pass on the report's conclusions to its parent body, the Essex Drug Action Team, and the Home Office. "There is conflicting evidence, but the majority of scientific studies say detrimental effects outweigh the positive ones."