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| You are in Activism / Coffeeshops / Dutch Experience ADVANCE NOTICE 11
December 2001 Contact:
Chris Davies MEP ( 07787 504516 ) MEP TO BE ARRESTED? A North West Euro-MP
is planning to seek arrest for possession of cannabis in
a protest aimed at supporting the imprisoned owner of Britain's first Dutch-style
'coffee shop'. Chris Davies,
the Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West, will seek on Saturday
15 December at 10.00am to be arrested by Greater Manchester Police for
possession of a tiny amount of cannabis resin on a postage stamp. This is
likely to take place at the police station, Lee Street, Stockport. He wants to draw
attention to the experience of his constituent, Mr Colin Davies
(no relation), founder of the 'Dutch Experience' coffee shop in Stockport.
Colin Davies, who admits to helping people with medical problems obtain
the drug to relieve pain, is currently in Strangeways prison on remand
while awaiting trial on cannabis-related offences. He has been repeatedly
denied bail despite never having being convicted of a drugs-related
offence. Similar 'coffee shops'
in The Netherlands have been permitted for nearly 20 years.
They are said to have contributed to a fall in the use of 'hard' drugs
in that country, which in any case is much less than in Britain. MEP Chris Davies
has never smoked or used illegal drugs and does not intend to
do so on this occasion. However, he believes that the law is in urgent need
of reform. The Liberal Democrat
will say: "Hundreds of British politicians admit in private
that the law on cannabis is a nonsense. It is time that more of them spoke
out publicly. "The legal priorities
are wrong. Last year some 50,000 people were arrested for
possession of cannabis, a drug which the medical journal The Lancet claims
is less harmful than alcohol. In the same period nearly 800 young people
in Britain died of alcohol-induced cirrhosis of the liver. It is not surprising
that many police officers admit that they have better things to do
with their time than arrest people for a supposed offence which causes no harm
to anyone else. "Ten years ago
I worked for the Shopping Hours Reform Council, sponsored by Tesco,
Sainsburys and the Kingfisher Group to campaign for a change in the law
on Sunday trading at a time. By opening his 'coffee shop' Colin Davies is
doing no more and no less than the superstores did then when they challenged
the law and opened on Sundays to meet public demand." A Liberal Democrat
working group last week called for a national policy of non-prosecution
for possession and social supply of cannabis. The proposal, which
will be debated by party members at a conference in March, is expected to
be endorsed as Liberal Democrat policy. |
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