Source: Evening News (Norwich UK)
Contact:  Thu, 24 Sep 1998
Author: Jack Girling

JUDGE'S VIEWS WENT AGAINST CANNABIS EVIDENCE

We read with dismay the comments of Judge Paul Downes when sentencing a
Great Yarmouth man to 15 months in prison for supplying cannabis. (Evening
News, September 19)

He said: "The court takes the view that it [cannabis] is a dangerous drug
can cause endless problems for people who get addicted to it."

We wonder what his qualifications regarding cannabis are, as he seems to
disagree with all the Government-sponsored reports on cannabis produced
over the last 100 years, including the most recent.

These conclude that cannabis is not dangerous and is not addictive.

A tiny minority of users may experience problems related to their
psychological predilections or physical allergies, but to suggest that the
majority of users get "endless problems" must be seen, in the light of the
experts reports, as complete nonsense.

The evidence shows that cannabis is safer than almost everything we eat or
drink, from food and alcohol to prescribed or over-the-counter medications.
Any sentence based upon wrongful speculation or misinformation that
cannabis suppliers harm the users, must surely be wrong.

The prosecution of cannabis offenders is in neither their interest or the
public interest

If is a gross waste of public money, and prison sentences just increase the
costs.

yours sincerely,

Jack Girling

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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski