But Bill Stone, from the Cannabis Lobby thinks its just another case of "smoke & mirrors" in the national drugs debate; the government "seeming" to make all the right noises whilst in the meantime giving the alcohol industry "carte-blanche" to make the most of the festive season sales rush which happens every year at the start of December.

"Because whether you like to admit it to yourself or not," Stone continued, "Thats exactly whats going to happen, adding to the very real problems Welsh society face out on the streets, not curing them."

Back in 2008 the Canna Zine cannabis news website, which is actually published in Cardiff, South Wales, published a story which told of how a few of its members were planning to spend New Years Eve 2007 at home, with friends & family who had been invited to spend the New Year celebration in a trusted circle, enjoying the fruits of each others labours, safe and sound, away from the drunken revelry which the Welsh press subsequently went on to report early in 2008.

As a result of this story the Canna Zine was called a "website for losers" by Welsh Journalist Anghared Mair in our national press, (icwales.co.uk).

Simply for having an opinion on drugs she didn't agree with, even though
that same opinion has reduced cannabis use in other EU countries.

To illustrate her point she went on to explain how the streets of South Wales were reduced to a 'war zone' over the last New Year holiday, as emergency services struggled to cope with the influx of calls from people who were injured not as a result of using illicit drugs, but as a result of alcohol abuse.

That government's drug. That 'cash-cow' for the Exchequer.

The sadly ill-informed Ms Mair writes, "You don’t have to look any further than what the Labour government has done with alcohol and cannabis to realise that greater access to drugs leads to more problems, not less".

Happy New Year, or was it?
"New Year’s Eve celebrations this year (07-08) were worse than any other as emergency services dealt with alcohol-related incidents and fights," she continued in her article.

Which begs the question; how did cannabis get mentioned in the article when there was absolutely no evidence to substantiate the fact cannabis was involved, apart from Ms Mair's twisted self-opinion?

Furthermore pretty much every Welsh cannabis grower/user I know stayed in on New Years Eve, to AVOID the expected alcohol fuelled violence and if that makes them "losers" then so be it.

Enough is Enough
According to Bill Stone at the Cannabis Lobby enough is enough.

"Its time to make some changes" he said.

"Without fail, every single week we release news reports which go on to hi-light the plight faced by Welsh/British cannabis growers, who grow cannabis simply to supply themselves. A practice which is perfectly
legal across Europe, and in fact is widely seen as a harm prevention measure amongst some senior Police officers, drug experts, retired government drugs advisors and drugs charities. But the government themselves, simply ignore us".

"We have cannabis grower's who have nothing but positive experiences to tell regarding cannabis, including how its improved the quality of some peoples lives beyond measure. But the national press don't want to talk to
us".

"The public's perception of cannabis is one forged not by scientific facts and hard evidence, but by sensationalistic, ill-informed scare-mongering, which has been brought about by a diet of what can only be described as "lies" in the newspapers. The same newspapers which refuse to cover stories which tell of the fact 25% of the United States. Thats fully one quarter of the world's only true 'superpower state', can now use cannabis legally, with a recommendation from their doctor."

"In the United Kingdom however those same cannabis users would find themselves trying to avoid a 5 year prison sentence for doing no more than is perfectly legal in Oregon, or in California."

Blue-Print
"As a result" continued Stone, "We would like to meet with Chief Constable Wilding at her earliest convenience, to discuss the matter of "re-prioritising" anti-drug policing in South Wales."

"We believe we have a "blue-print" for cannabis safety, using the "Cannabis Social Clubs" initiative which has been championed by European reform organisation ENCOD, and has been successfully implemented in Spain and in Belgium with the official sanction of the Courts".

"The cannabis social club facilitates members forming a legally binding "association" under rights granted them by the European Constitution on Human Rights, which states, any citizen may form an association for their own protection and the protection of their human rights."

Hemorrhage
"As a large portion of the world is now allowing its citizens to consume cannabis for one reason or another, the Cannabis Lobby is calling the forthcoming reclassification of cannabis a "hemorrhage" of human rights."
 
A hemorrhage which is little more than a clumsily disguised stealth "tax" needed to fund the Brown Bounce even higher.

A tax which is set to actually cost the British tax-payer £100 million pounds to implement over the next 7 years according to Home Office figures, and its a tax which according to every single drugs expert who has commented, stands absolutely no chance of accomplishing the goals it set out to achieve in the grand scheme of things.

"The fact is" concluded Bill Stone, "Threatening people with prison isn't going to stop a single cannabis grower/user, from either growing or using. And I've asked literally hundreds of thousands over the last 12 months through my work with the Canna Zine and the Cannabis Lobby"

"So isn't it about time you [the Home Secretary] let us have some say in the matter", added the Cannabis Lobby spokesperson?

Keep abreast with whats happening in the British cannabis scene by following the Canna Zine cannabis news pages published only in Soft Secrets magazine, which is available free of charge in all good European grow/head shops.

"With government backing we have the building blocks in place to remove a thousand citizens from the illicit market in cannabis, by offering the cannabis community a controlled and regulated supply of the class C substance, which is guaranteed not to be adulterated with poisonous contaminants" said Stone.

"As if that wasn't enough" he continued, "This gives us an ideal platform on which to raise a nationwide education campaign which can be carried out using safety literature which would be supplied with the regulated cannabis, and it allows the cannabis community to pay their taxes to the government, not the underworld."

"In short, it gives us a platform on which to communicate with the cannabis consuming public in such a way as has simply not been possible before now, and any refusal to recognise this as the health initiative it is, is a refusal to recognise a safe, highly recommended-by-experts way of dealing with what is after-all, a hugely important British social issue."

"With a general election looming ever larger on the horizon, isn't it about time the cannabis community stood together?"

• If you are a member of the South Wales cannabis community, (or indeed any British cannabis community), would you like to be able to rock up to your favourite website and place your order, safe in the knowledge you were not going to get ripped off?

• If such a service were to be made available, would it stop you from dealing with shady drug-dealers entirely?

If you answered yes to both the questions above, join us on the Cannabis Lobby . Lend us your vote, and your voice, and lets put Wales at the forefront of cannabis education and regulation.

Written with thanks to Bill Stone at The British Cannabis Lobby

http://forum.cannabislobby.org - We're proud to be made in South Wales