Cannabis Campaign: Church discusses `harmless' drug, but the arrests go on

THE CAMPAIGN to decriminalise cannabis use in Britain has made an unparalleled series of advances this week, writes Vanessa Thorpe.

Members of the Church of England, the House of Lords and senior members of Britain's medical community have all been considering the issue in a more dispassionate atmosphere than before.

A paper released on Wednesday, and due to be debated by the General Synod of the Church of England at the beginning of next month, refers to this newspaper's campaign, as well as the fundamentally "harmless" nature of the drug and the strong case for allowing medical experimentation with the substance.

The Misuse of Drugs report by the Board of Social Responsibility also includes a comment made by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, last year that decriminalisation was "a subject that deserves, in my opinion, detached, objective, independent consideration".

It goes on to call for the whole area of illegal drug use to be seen in the context of religious faith and, in some cases, of the search to renew the spiritual side of life.

A background paper written for the synod by Rev Kenneth Leech quotes widely from the Independent on Sunday's campaign and underlines the current scientific opinion that cannabis use is of no long-term danger to health and is not in itself an encouragement to go on to take stronger illegal drugs.

Writing since the IoS campaign was launched on 28 September last year, Rev Leech states: "The calls for decriminalisation of cannabis possession, which have been the subject of debate in the UK for over 30 years, are likely to become more frequent."

His paper also quotes this newspaper's criticisms of the limitations of the Government's recent White Paper entitled Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain, published on 27 April this year.

In support of the IoS stance, Rev Leech writes: "The most positive aspect of the [Government's] document is the recognition that treatment costs less, and works better, than prohibition.

"However, the long-term policy implications of this recognition need to be taken more seriously than any government has so far done."

On 4 July the General Synod will merely be asked to note and discuss the report and its accompanying background paper, but the ideas they both contain demonstrate the changing moral attitude to cannabis use within the Church of England. On Tuesday the House of Lords Science and Technology Subcommittee heard important evidence from the Multiple Sclerosis Society on the effectiveness of the drug in combating some of the painful symptoms of the degenerative illness.

A second public hearing will hear further evidence on the drug's properties at 10.45am on Tuesday 16 June. (Call 0171-219 3107 for details.)

Perhaps this week's most unlikely development, however, was the granting of a licence to Britain's first cannabis farm.

The government-backed research station was given the go-ahead on Thursday and can now research and develop the drug's uses as a medicine.

Prior to this, all scientific work on cannabis has exposed those conducting the experiments to the possibility of a criminal charge for possession.

Dr Geoffrey Guy, a founder of GW Pharmaceuticals, is to grow the drug in a giant greenhouse at a secret site in south-east England and he expects to be able to market at least one new drug within five years.

The research plan, reported in the national media this week, will follow in the footsteps of similar research work being pursued in the United States, where the government last year announced it is to spend $1m (pounds 600,000) on investigating the uses of cannabis in the treatment of illness.

In Britain, GW will work to isolate THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, and to test its suitability for therapeutic use. Dr Guy has already indicated the possibility that patients with multiple sclerosis, Aids, cancer and glaucoma may all stand to benefit from his work.

He estimates that the research will cost about pounds 10m over the next five years and he is looking for pharmaceutical companies to invest in the new venture.

The first shipment of cannabis plants supplied by GW's Dutch partner HortaPharm will be planted in the next few weeks and the first harvest is expected in late autumn.

In contrast to such positive news, this week police resources have once more been channelled into dealing with cannabis-related crime.

A mother of two, who cares for her chronically arthritic 54-year-old husband, has been convicted for making a cannabis soup to ease his pain.

Margaret Startin was fined after police raided her home in Cannock, Staffordshire, and found plants growing under special lights in the loft.

Mrs Startin said: "We have tried normal medication but these were not working. I had to try something else. I was desperate."

At Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday she admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and was fined pounds 500 and ordered to pay pounds 1,123 costs. Her husband, William Widdowson, was fined pounds 250 after he admitted growing the drug.