cannabisnews.com: British Cannabis Growers Leery of 'Softer' Laws





British Cannabis Growers Leery of 'Softer' Laws
Posted by CN Staff on July 10, 2002 at 14:00:01 PT
Reuters News Service
Source: Reuters
Pot smokers across Britain were on a high today after the government said it would soften its stance against cannabis, but small-time growers and dealers feared the real winners would be hardened criminal gangs. Home Secretary David Blunkett, perhaps bowing to widespread marijuana use across Britain, told parliament he would relax cannabis laws by July 2003, making possession of small amounts or smoking it in private a non-arrestable offense. 
Casual users who enjoy a puff at the weekend might applaud the softer laws, but small-time producers who illegally grow plants in their homes shuddered after Blunkett increased the maximum penalty for dealing from five to 14 years. Today's downgrade will put marijuana in the same category as anabolic steroids and growth hormones, but penalties for growing and dealing were lengthened. "All the government is doing is driving the small, cottage-industry growers out of business and leaving cannabis production to the bad boys, the real criminals who don't fear jail sentences," one London grower told Reuters. "I can see the bubble bursting for the cottage industry in maybe 18 months ... but maybe that's what they want to do, stop people growing it altogether," he said. Surprisingly, growers find themselves allied on the issue with the opposition Conservatives, who have called the new policy an unworkable middle ground that leaves production in the hands of unscrupulous dealers. In a run-down but trendy district of south London, where growers tend brightly-lit rooms full of bushy green marijuana plants, cannabis is virtually an indigenous species. Long before Blunkett's experiment with softer marijuana laws, the tide of opinion had turned in favor of cannabis. An ICM poll published in April found that more than half of young people in Britain and 28 percent of the whole population -- or about 13 million people -- had taken illegal drugs. Five million regularly puffed on cannabis joints, while more than 2 million had ingested amphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy. Entrepreneurs anticipating a softening of cannabis laws have already opened Dutch-style cannabis cafes, where the drug is openly sold and smoked. And even royalty has joined the revolution -- 18-year-old Prince Harry, the second son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, hit the headlines earlier this year when a newspaper revealed he had smoked cannabis. But growers brushed aside the apparent wave of acceptance for the pungent plant, saying a war on smokers had evolved into a war on growers. A second illegal London grower, who acknowledged he can earn $31,040 annually from a small room filled with plants, said he was looking for a way out of the trade. "The new law is hypocritical -- why punish growers but not smokers?" he said. "There is money to be made, but it's not worth risking 10 years in jail. Maybe I'll open a cannabis cafe instead." Source: ReutersPublished: July 10, 2002Copyright: 2002 ReutersRelated Articles: Cannabis Laws Eased By Blunkett http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13356.shtmlDavid Blunkett's Speech on Cannabis http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13355.shtmlCannabis To Be Downgraded http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13354.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Number 7 on July 10, 2002 at 22:23:12 PT
But...
It's more progress than we in the USA are making.
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Comment #2 posted by freedom fighter on July 10, 2002 at 22:04:37 PT
The Player
Moving from game to game
Never showing the handNever have seen the Player lose a game
Never showing the handMoving from game to gameff
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Comment #1 posted by Naaps on July 10, 2002 at 16:16:32 PT
The ‘Softer’ Law
This reminds me of the headline recently in the article regarding Edmonton Police Chief Bob Wasylyshen, “Ease Pot Law, Chief Bob Says.” Some easing that he proposed – ding the cannabis enthusiasts, fine them where you find them.I don’t see this as a softening of the law. The very foundation of the cannabis culture is the grower. No grower, no cannabis, no celebration or medicine. Attacking the grower is attacking the cannabis user. The natural consequence of increasing the penalties is that the price of cannabis will increase commensurate with the risk involved in producing and vending it. There will probably be a shift in who takes the risk, going toward a more dangerous, possibly violent, player.
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