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UK: CANNABIS CARNIVAL BACKED BY POLICE Kirsten Johnson Scottish Mail on Sunday Sunday 09 Mar 2014 HUNDREDS of cannabis smokers are to stage an unprecedented public celebration of the illegal drug in Scotland’s biggest city next month – with the backing of police. Pro-drug campaigners are planning a so-called ‘Celebration of Cannabis’ in a park in Glasgow city centre. Organisers will call for the drug to be legalised, as well as encouraging people to defy the law by ‘growing their own’. Yet even though the event will clearly call on people to break the law, it has been given permission by the authorities. Police have confirmed they are aware of the planned event and have been in contact with the organisers – but will not take action to stop it going ahead. Politicians and addiction support charities criticised the ‘shocking’ decision to allow a criminal activity to be ‘glamorised’ in one of Scotland’s most popular green spaces. Cannabis now accounts for more than one in ten drug-related hospital admissions, despite its reputation as a ‘safe’ substance, and the maximum penalty possession is five years’ imprisonment. Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont said: ‘People will be extremely annoyed at the high-profile celebration of something that’s illegal. What’s next on the agenda, a housebreaking summit or pro-heroin gathering? It is disappointing that such a carnival in homage to an illegal substance is being facilitated in this way.’ The event, planned for Glasgow Green on Sunday April 20, has been organised by a group named the Glasgow Cannabis Social Club. It has been given permission to fly flags and promotional banners and even sell drug paraphernalia in the busy public park, which is popular with young families and dog walkers. Speakers will take to the stage to promote the so-called health benefits of the illicit class-B substance, including incredible claims that it can cure cancer. Attendees will also be urged to support Glasgow Cannabis Social Club’s plans to start a not-for-profit cannabis-growing community north of the Border. Although the event openly encourages people to break the law, Police Scotland will not halt proceedings unless criminal activity is detected on the day. Chief Inspector David Pettigrew said: ‘We are aware of this event and have been liaising with the organisers. As with all events, it will be policed appropriately.’ Chris Mackenzie, 24, a selfconfessed ‘recreational cannabis user’, started Glasgow Cannabis Social Club in 2012. He hopes the event, advertised on Facebook, will recruit new members. He told The Scottish Mail on Sunday yesterday: ‘We want to get Scotland’s cannabis community off their sofas and meeting other like-minded people. ‘Thousands of people use cannabis in Scotland and, through the not-forprofit social club model, we want communities to be able to grow their own plants, at home or in clubhouses, to stop the black-market trade. Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol, it is an anti-inflammatory, it is a painkiller and evidence shows its oil can kill cancer cells, but the Government don’t want us knowing this. ‘We are asking that all children will be accompanied by adults and that people do not smoke cannabis – but I can’t police the whole event.’ Labour’s justice spokesman Graeme Pearson, a former police officer who used to run the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said: ‘Scotland already has real problems with substance abuse – the fact this group is glamorising the use of cannabis in this way is not good. ‘Smoking cannabis is illegal and the notion of making it legal is both irrational and irresponsible. ‘The statistics from A&E units for people affected by the use of cannabis show a steady rise in psychosis, particularly in young men. ‘I hope the police and the council will discourage this behaviour.’ There were 608 hospital admissions as a result of the drug last year, compared to 500 in 2008. Christine Duncan, chief executive of Scottish Families Affected by Drugs, said: ‘Any glamorising of substance misuse cannot be supported as we are too aware of the impact on families, including financial ruin and break-up of families.’ http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx#
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