CAMPAIGNER BIZ
HITS OUT AT 'CLEAR AS MUD' LAW CHANGES
Source: The Orcadian, Scotland, UK
Pub Date: Thursday, 29 January 2004
Author: Lorraine Shearer
Cited: Biz Ivol http://www.ccguide.org.uk/bizivol.php
Legalise
Cannabis Alliancehttp://www.lca-uk.org/
Contact: postbag@orcadian.co.uk
Campaigner Biz Hits Out At 'Clear As Mud'
Law Changes
The rules surrounding the downgrading of cannabis
are as "clear as mud", according to Orkney campaigner, Biz Ivol.
Cannabis is due to be downgraded to a
class C drug today, Thursday, but the police and government warn that
possession is still illegal.
Kirkwall Police Inspector David Miller
admitted that he had not received a lot of information about the downgrading,
but he was clear in his message: "The reclassification will make no
difference to the way which we deal with the misuse of drugs.
"The message is clear - nothing has
changed."
But Mrs Ivol, from South Ronaldsay, who
was involved in a high profile prosecution case in Kirkwall last year,
maintains that the drug helps to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
The Crown case against her was eventually
dropped on medical grounds, and she remains outspoken in her use of cannabis.
She said: "These new rules are as
clear as mud. The police can still
charge you with possession and, as such, what are they going to do with me?
"When I first started this cannabis
campaign, I kept recreational and medicinal cannabis separate.
"The more I learn, the more I think
it should be legalised. Cannabis cannot
kill you", she claimed. The
55-year-old is now bed-ridden for much of her life, having suffered from the
crippling disease for more than ten years.
"The MS has well and truly taken
over now. I can barely use my hands any
more. I just wish to God it would hurry
up and take my brain."
She feels that policemen should be doing
more to help people like herself and legalise the drug.
"That is one thing that makes me
very cross - why the policemen couldn't do the fighting from the start. They are all coming out in favour of it
now."
With declassification (sic) comes a
penalty of up to two years in jail for possession but a tougher approach to
dealers as the sentence for supplying class C drugs rises from a maximum of
five years to 14 years.
Other class C drugs include mild
amphetamines, valium and anabolic steroids.
Don Barnard of the Legalise Cannabis
Alliance, who was in Orkney to support Mrs Ivol during her court case, believes
the way forward is legally regulated control of the drug with licensed outlets
such as cannabis cafes.
"We need to examine the successes,
failures and costs of past and present control regimes.
"Can we really justify punishing people for cannabis possession or growing a few plants when clearly neither individual nor society benefits through the prosecutions? Mr Barnard questioned.