[impressed IN 1980 a record 14,910 people were…]

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impressed IN 1980 a record 14,910 people were convicted for cannabis offences, nevertheless it has been estimated that 8 million people have broken the law by trying it. The penalties for possession of drugs plainly should not be more harmful than use of the drug itself, but this clearly is the case with cannabis, maximum penalty being five years and an unlimited fine (the penalty for cultivation is up to 14 years and/or an unlimited fine).

100 years of research into cannabis have failed to prove that it can be injurious to health. Despite titis the anti-cannabis lobby has gramme would draw people into the YS, ignoring completely the specific needs of. oppressed groups within our society, who could be won over to socialism if we were more sympathetic and supportive.

I enjoyed our meetings much more than the official ones. Ours were more open with both sides being given plenty of time to voice their argued that it can cause: dependence; chromosome breaks; foetal damage; immune system damage; brain damage.

But the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare concluded, in its latest report to congress that:

1) Cannabis does not lead to physical dependency;

2)There is no reliable evidence of brain damage, inherited abnormalities, or increased susceptibility to disease;

3)Agression is reduced, there is no connection between cannabis use and criminality;

4)There are no permanopinions unlike the restricted time given to Class Fighter as a group in many of the official meetings. I felt the amount of people that came to our meetings showed the interest that there was in our policies, especially as most of our meetings ran at the same time as official workshops.

I have only just recently become a supporter and ent effects on intellectual performance or attainment or loss of motivation unequivocally attributed to cannabis use;

5)Studies in cultures where long term use is fommon have shown no significant or lasting psychological or physiological effects.

Experiments inducing birth defects, etc., have used unrealistically large doses that even a very heavy user would be unlikely to approach. This sort of experiment has been condemned, for this reason, as useless by several notable scientists and organisations including seller of Class Fighter and this was the first time I have seen them in action nationally and I say I was impressed s‹ I am sending you a donátion to help continue the good work.

Yours in support, David Amos Chichester YS Julius • Axelrod, 1 Nobel prize winner for his work on the effects of drugs on the brain.

• Cannabis also stands up well in tests of acute toxicity, compared to other common drugs, such as aspirin, barbiturates, alcohol and tobacco, it is virtually non-toxic, making cannabis poisoning totally unknown.

Cannabis is now widely accepted not to be a health hazard in reasonable quantities (this includes by our own Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs).

Health reasons are not the only ones put forward against cannabis though.

It is often suggested that it could cause social problems, but in fact it could ease several serious social problems. The link between cannabis and other contrulled drugs le.g. heroin and amphetamines) would be broken and so their consumption would decrease, and if cannabis use increased then alcohol use would decrease, easing the serious problems of alcoholism and alcohol-induced violence against people and property.

The financial effects of legalisation would be equally beneficial. In 1980 87% of all drug offences involved cannabis, and so the saving in law enforcement resources. could be considerable (in California, atter the first year of decriminalisation of possession of cannabis, an estimated 25 million dollars was saved).

Medicine too could benefit from legalisation. Cannabis can be very useful in the treatment of glaucoma lexcess pressure in the eye), spasticity, asthma and the extreme nausea caused by chemotherapy la form of cancer treatment).

The anti-cannabis laws are outdated, repressive and counter-productive and the use of cannabis should be a matter of personal choice. These laws are unlikely to be changed without more pressure from the public su join the Legalise Cannabis Cairpaign and fight them.

For information about the legalise Cannabis lamingn and its activities writt. io:

1. Figin Arenue. London 4 SPR.

LANLEY. 'ahemprit