Legalise Cannabis
website 'blocked' by county council
Source: Essex
Enquirer [UK]
Pub Date:
Thursday 20 November 2003
Subj: Legalise
Cannabis website 'blocked' by county council
Contact:
letters@theenquirer.co.uk
Legalise Cannabis
website 'blocked' by county council
ESSEX COUNTY
Council has come under fire for blocking access to a pro-cannabis website from
its libraries.
The Legalise
Cannabis Alliance (LCA) is furious the site is barred from computers because it
allegedly advocates drug taking.
They believed
access was particularly important with the debate over cannabis
reclassification still unresolved.
Don Barnard,
Chelmsford spokesperson for the LCA, accused the council of political
censorship¶ He said: We don't advocate the use of drugs in any shape or form.
We are a registered political party that advises a change in the law.
How can we
debate matters relating to cannabis reclassification when only one side is
allowed to put its case?
"It's the
thin end of the wedge, if they continue to do this there will be no
opposition."
But the county
council said they subscribe to a service that filters websites on their behalf.
They stressed it
was not blocked for political reasons but because it falls under the category
of drugs.
lt's at the
commercial service's discretion," a spokesperson said.
We keep
categories under review and this site may be something we reconsider."
After a dressing down from
the LCA, Secure Computing, the company which filters Essex County libraries'
web pages, has now lifted their ban on the site.