Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jul 2002
Source: Yorkshire Evening Press (UK)
Website: http://www.thisisyork.co.uk
Address: Po Box 29, 76-86 Walmgate, York, North Yorkshire YO1 9YN, Great 
Britain
Contact:  2002 Newsquest Media Group
Fax: 01904 612853
Cited: Carl Wagner: Legalise Cannabis Alliance,

CANNABIS MOVE IS WELCOME BY MS SUFFERERS

MOVES to "downgrade" cannabis have been welcomed by York MS sufferers, but 
attacked for "fudging the issue" by a legalisation campaigner.

Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that cannabis will from next year 
be a class C rather than a class B drug, meaning possession of small 
amounts will no longer be an arrestable offence.

The move has been welcomed by the York branch of the Multiple Sclerosis 
Society, which said it opened the door for sufferers who want to use the 
drug to alleviate their symptoms without fear of prosecution.

The society is awaiting the results of two national clinical trials to see 
if drugs based on derivatives of cannabis are both effective and safe in 
the treatment of this long-term condition.

A spokesman for the York branch said: "At the moment some people are using 
cannabis and a lot have found it helpful. A lot of people have also found 
that it does not help them.

"We don't think it's right that people should get a criminal record for 
using something which may be the only thing that helps their symptoms. And 
these changes mean that people won't be arrested.

"There may be people who have not used cannabis in the past who may now use 
it without fear of prosecution.

"But the society's principal concern with any potential treatment is that 
it is both effective and safe in the long term."

Campaigner Carl Wagner, who is looking at the possibility of opening a 
cannabis cafe in York, said Mr Blunkett had fudged the issue, adding the 
reclassification of cannabis was "a progression in attitudes" but did not 
go far enough.

Mr Wagner, who runs a market stall in Hull, said the problems of people 
being exposed to hard drugs when buying cannabis had not been dealt with.

And he said the decision to increase the penalty for dealing class C drugs 
from five to 14 years shows he "hasn't thought out the policy at all" 
because the current 14-year maximum for dealing class B drugs had deterred 
nobody.

He said: "The only way to reduce harm from bad cannabis and hard drugs is 
to bring cannabis within the law, allow quality controls and taxation of 
profits of suppliers, and to allow people to grow a few plants in their own 
homes."

A spokesman for the National Association of Headteachers said the 
downgrading should not make "a blind bit of difference" to school drugs 
policies.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens