Pubdate: Sat, 28 Mar 1998
Date: March 28, 1998
Source: The Independent (UK)
Author: Rosie Boycott

TODAY, I shall be out on the streets of central London marching for a cause
I believe in.

While at the Independent on Sunday, I decided to launch a
campaign for the decriminalisation of cannabis - not heroin, cocaine, or
other hard drugs but pot, which has very few harmful side effects and even
better, can alleviate the suffering of multiple sclerosis sufferers. At
noon today,

MS groups will join me, MPs, MEPs and supporters of our
campaign as we wend our way from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square. It will be
an intensely exciting occasion, one that marks a high-point in our
six-month effort.

But there is still much work to be done - while studies
released by the World Health Organisation and British Medical Association
point to the relatively benign affects of cannabis versus other drugs, most
notably alcohol, and many public figures from the media, medicine, science,
the arts, even the police have voiced their support, the Government refuses
to budge.

That is why we are marching today, and, hopefully, at last, Tony Blair and
Jack Straw will listen and understand this is one campaign that is not
going to go away.

Rosie Boycott