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Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Legalising cannabis has been Green Party of England & Wales policy for at least as long as I've been a member

Last weekend, The Observer reported:
Siobhan Benita says the capital should make the move to tackle youth crime

Photo caption: Siobhan Benita, Liberal Democrats candidate for London mayor next year, says legalising cannabis would help police tackle violent youth crime in the capital

The legalisation of cannabis should be tested in London to improve public health and stop young people being drawn into crime, a London mayoral candidate has said.
Siobhan Benita, the Lib Dem candidate for next year’s election, said the idea of legalising the drug was “no longer controversial” and the serious crime in the capital meant it was the right place for the idea to be trialled.

“Illegal drugs activity, especially in the capital, is a big part of pulling young people into serious violence,” she told the Observer. “I want to remove power from those gangs. My question would be, why haven’t we done this yet? It’s not controversial any more. We’ve got enough examples now of countries around the world and we can compare and contrast how they have done it. We now have lots more evidence on where it is working well.”

More at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/14/legalise-cannabis-says-liberal-democrat-candidate-for-london-mayor

Re her question, "Why haven't we done it yet?" perhaps one answer could be, "Because we have not yet had Green Party of England & Wales in majority political power yet."

Legalising currently illicit drugs has long been Green Party of England & Wales policy, as a keyword search of Green Party website reveals:

About 120 results (0.48 seconds)
https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/du.html
DU405 Cannabis would be removed from the 1971 Misuse of drugs act. The possession, trade and cultivation of cannabis would be immediately decriminalised, ...
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news-archive/2893.html
1 Mar 2007 ... On Monday 5th March, Grandmother and medical cannabis campaigner Patricia Tabram is due to appear at Carlisle court for cannabis ...
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/archive/news-archive/709.html
Leading Green jailed for cannabis cultivation. 31 July 2003. Shane Collins, the Green Party's national spokesperson on drugs and one ofthe country's ...
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/.../caroline-allen-uk-drugs-legislation-is- failing-us-all/
7 May 2014 ... And it's because we know that a legal, safe supply chain for cannabis will cut off cash from the black market and shady, ruthless, criminal drug ...
https://www.carolinelucas.com/.../access-to-medical-cannabis-8-apr-2019
8 Apr 2019 ... Access to Medical Cannabis (8 Apr 2019). Caroline Lucas: Some reports suggest that even Alfie Dingley, whose case gave rise to the new ...
https://jeanlambertmep.org.uk/cannabis-friendly-dating-site/
28 May 2019 ... Chronic souls cannabis friendly mean in finding 420-friendly partners as it turns out, also, canada. My420mate is full of online dating site for ...
More at: https://cse.google.com/cse?q=cannabis&ajaxSearch_submit.x=0&ajaxSearch_submit.y=0&cx=014602880548773237108%3Abfmqbz3c1w4&ie=UTF-8


Follow-up questions might include, 
  1. "Why has Green Party of England & Wales not been given sufficient broadcasting time under the UK's 'First Past the Post' electoral system to outline its drugs policy?" and
  2. "Why have journalists not drawn more attention to the full range of Green Party of England and Wales policies?"
Have I taken cannabis during the time I have been a Green Party of England & Wales member? No; just because I believe something should be legalised does not mean that I believe it should be compulsory.

Alan Wheatley, a Green Party of England & Wales member since October 2005

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