Until the
early nineties, people of Norwich mainly knew cannabis as a 'drug' of
relaxation or recreation. However, at the start of 1997, people seem to be
realising that cannabis is more, much more, than just a way to get 'stoned' at
the weekend. Some people even recognise that cannabis is not at all like drugs,
and refuse to call it one; many more perceive it as a medicine.
Once one
discovers just what cannabis is, what it can be used for, and the history of
cannabis, one can only wonder why we were not told all this in school. One
would wonder why it was, in fact, almost hidden away from us. If one was lucky
enough to come across Jack
Herer's masterpiece 'The Emperor Wears No Clothes' one may have been
surprised to read his claim that cannabis can save the planet - in fact he has
offered an 10,000 dollars reward to anyone who can disprove him!
It is thanks
to people like Herer and organisations like the Norwich based Campaign to
Legalise Cannabis International Association, founded in 1992, that many of us
are now aware of the facts. Cannabis is a relaxant, a food, a medicine, a
resource for fibre for paper, furniture, sails, rope, canvas and even bricks.
Cannabis seed is a highly nutritious food, a source of oil for use as a fuel
(Henry Ford built his first Model T to run on hempseed oil), a lubricant, and
an ingredient in paints, varnish, lacquers, sealant and even plastics. Cannabis
is said to be the most efficacious plant on earth.
Cannabis is
also used in religious rituals by Rastafarians, Copts, Buddhists, Hindus and
Jains. For many people it is a part of daily life. It is easily obtained
(although not always very pure) in almost every village, town or city in
Britain, including Norwich. One may be tempted to wonder what the down side of
cannabis is. Why is it illegal, with tens of thousands imprisoned in the UK, if
it is so useful? Is it harmful or dangerous? Does it lead to hard drugs? Is it
addictive? Can one overdose? To justify the prohibition of cannabis surely
there must be at least one 'yes' to these questions. But, there isn't.
Over the last
hundred or so years, there have been many government-sponsored investigations
and reports into cannabis and its effects on health when eaten or smoked. These
include the Indian Hemp Commission, the US Shafer Report, the US Costa Rican
studies, Jamaican Studies, Coptic studies, the LaGuardia Study, the UK Wootton
Report and the
Report of the DEA-appointed Judge Young. All failed to find any danger in
the use of cannabis; they state that it is non-addictive; it does not lead to
use of narcotics; it is a beneficial medicine; there is no detrimental effects
on memory, motor co-ordination, judgement or reaction times; it does not impair
either mental performance or physical ability; it does not a-motivate; it does
not create a particular lifestyle In the words of the Lancet 1995 "The
smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not damaging to health."
So why is
cannabis illegal? Why was it made illegal and when? Most people, even if aware
of the many beneficial uses of cannabis, would merely conclude that it was
because the powers decided that they did not want the people 'stoned'. Well,
that is hardly likely to be the truth, since cannabis had been widely used for
centuries throughout the world, even in Europe, and it had caused no problems.
Also, as alcohol and tobacco, both highly addictive and toxic drugs, are legal,
it is clear that cannabis was not made illegal even under a mis-guided belief
that prohibition would protect health.. Maybe we should look at what else was
happening in the world about the time of the prohibition of cannabis
Cannabis was
made illegal almost worldwide after the Geneva Opiates Conference of 1925
classified it as a narcotic (wrongly - cannabis never had any narcotic
properties). Could there be some ulterior motive? Is this conspiracy theory or
is it paranoia? Let the reader decide.
Strangely
enough, there had been some important 'breakthroughs' during the decades before
1925, including the synthesis of man-made fabrics such as nylon and rayon, the
increase in the use of diesel and petrol-driven engines, and tranquilizers and
pain-killing drugs. The multi-national billionaire power- hungry directors of
the huge companies which could profit, even at the expense of life itself, were
not slow to realise that their expensive synthetics could never compete in a
world market where the needs of man were so neatly met by the many uses of the
humble cannabis Hemp plant. Hemp had been widely used for paper, cloth,
medicine and fuel, for centuries, and cannabis could be grown easily almost
anywhere. People would never simply accept the prohibition of such a useful
resource ... unless, of course, it could somehow be shown to be dangerous. And
that was precisely what the employees of those world-polluting companies
proceeded to attempt to do. They created myths and fears, encouraging Egypt and
Turkey to insist upon including cannabis as a narcotic (hence drug), alongside
heroin and opiates. These countries falsely claimed that some of their people
suffered from 'chronic hashism', but there has never been such a condition.
Cannabis was prohibited in the UK in 1928 as a direct result of the Geneva
Conference at which Britain had abstained.
In the USA,
powerful political servants such as Anslinger used the lie that cannabis was
dangerous to brainwash the population into accepting the loss of their most
valuable resource as a necessity to protect the young from the 'evils' of
marijuana intoxication. Marijuana was a name for the leaves and tops of the
cannabis plant. Claims of 'reefer madness' were advertised throughout America.
Parents were warned of a 'drug far more frightening than Frankenstein's
Monster.' Black people and Mexicans, were singled out and arrested. Anslinger
even spoke publicly against 'Ginger-haired niggers.' The hatred campaign
quickly spread to include Jazz musicians; and clubs. Meanwhile Henry Ford, in
an attempt to remain independent of the petroleum companies, illegally grew
hemp for three years. Anslinger was sacked by John Kennedy a year before
Kennedy was assassinated; by the way the words 'assassinate' and 'hashish' have
the same origin.
The
prohibition laws had little social effect, though, in Britain, where very few
people were smoking it during the first half of this century. Prohibition began
to have its disastrous effect on British society mainly after 1960, when it
became much more easily obtainable and used; people here began to enjoy it too;
they became 'criminals' in law, subject to arrest and prosecution for their
crimes with no victims. Many popular figures such as Keith Richard and Mick
Jagger, were among those arrested. However, the use of cannabis continued to
grow, as did the plant itself.
The spreading
of lies and fear was so successful that large sections of communities turned
against anyone known to use cannabis, courts and prisons filled, cannabis
prices rose, as did the crime rate and the number of hard drug addicts.
Cannabis was no longer a roadside or garden plant, it was an illegal drug
controlled solely by 'criminal' organisations. The propaganda campaign was so
successful that even the political and commercial successors have believed the
lies.
What has
prohibition done? It has alienated and criminalised millions of people; caused
thousands to be thrown into prison; mixed the supply of cannabis, with no
control of quality, in with that of hard drugs, the tax-free profits financing
large criminal and terrorist organisations; it has removed a highly beneficial
medicine (both preventative and curative) from pharmacists' shelves - thus
causing unnecessary suffering from illnesses such as MS, Glaucoma, AIDS,
cancer, arthritis and rheumatics, spinal injury, depression, insomnia, loss of
appetite, cramps, epilepsy; menstrual and labour pains and asthma; it has
restricted religious practices; it has encouraged the production of
environmentally polluting synthetic alternatives; it has helped perpetuate the
Greenhouse Effect and helped destroy the Ozone Layer. All that with huge costs
of policing these unworkable, unjust and ineffective laws. Prohibition, which
has never worked when applied to an economically valuable resource ( as opposed
to crimes of violence, theft etc), has never worked. In short, the prohibition
of cannabis is nothing less than an inhumane, profit-motivated, social evil.
The reason why
cannabis was made illegal has been largely forgotten. Cannabis is now grown
again for its fibre, and advocated medicinally. Now it is the lies that we have
to destroy, and the money motivation of illegal suppliers, which we have to
battle, to free this benign herb again.
Organisations
such as the CLCIA and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) have been
struggling for years to make people aware of the injustice or prohibition, the
impracticalities and expense of enforcing the cannabis laws, and of the
harmless and beneficial nature of cannabis itself. We eve find we have to
tackle the subtle programming with which we have ourselves been fed by
prohibitionists. An example of this was a discussion on whether or not cannabis
could cause hallucinations. I remember reading once, in a comic probably, that
Nepalese temple Ball Hashish was hallucinogenic. But upon realising exactly
what an hallucination is, we realised that nobody we knew had ever hallucinated
on cannabis alone; furthermore, we learned that cannabis, chemically, cannot
possibly produce hallucinations; it's effect is always one of relaxation (not
always repose). How much more difficult to open the eyes of those who have
never even tried cannabis themselves, who live in fear of the 'drug menace' and
do not see the difference between illegal cannabis users and addicts of drugs?
In Norwich,
cannabis awareness is growing rapidly. By the time that the next Government is
announced every person in Norwich will be aware of the truth. The politicians
won't tell them, but we will. That is why the LCA
was formed and that is why we nominated parliamentary candidates on the single
issue of legalisation of cannabis.
In both
Norwich North and Norwich South, we nominated Howard Marks, notorious cannabis
smuggler and author of 'Mr. Nice'. We were very please with the results. Howard
gained 1% of the vote in the marginal North constituency and 1.5% in the safe
South seat. This is a remarkable result for any new party (THE CANNABIS PARTY) but particularly
powerful because a large number of people who expresses support said that they
would vote labour only to rid the country of the Tories. One thing is sure,
every voter and every other candidate was told some of the truth about cannabis
and it was brought to the forefront in this election.
We hope that
what has happened here in Norwich has had an effect on awareness throughout
Britain if not the world, and bring us one step closer to the return of
cannabis to its natural; status, and end the repression on freedom of choice,
lifestyle, religion, medicine, food and resource, which are contrary to Human
and civil rights.
Campaigners
know that after the election there is a greater awareness of the truth about
cannabis even beyond the boundaries of Norwich. All we hope is that people who
recognise the legalisation of cannabis as a vital issue, realise that to vote
on this single issue is far more worthwhile than voting for another candidate
who simply re-iterates his party policies and ignores the issue of legalisation
which effects the lives of 10,000,000 citizens of the UK.
In 1999,
campaigners formed the LEGALISE CANNABIS
ALLIANCE,and it became a registered political party. A manifesto has been
published and five candidates stood on the local
elections in Norwich. Candidates also stood in 2000 and 2001
The CLCIA and
the LCA have the same aims - to secure the
Human Rights which we the people have, to believe what we choose and to
practice that belief. We will fight for the protection of the Right to use
cannabis for its physical, mental, and spiritual therapeutic properties. Please
JOIN US NOW More information from
Legalise Cannabis Alliance, PO Box 198, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 3WB
e-mail lca@lca-uk.org