Peter Reynolds
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Cameron On Cannabis Part 3
This is part three of the story but, in a way, it’s just the beginning.
The story is our prime minister, David Cameron, the leader of our country and his recent interview about cannabis. It was on Al Jazeera in association with YouTube and is one of a series of interviews with world leaders. You can watch the video and read the previous parts here:
Mr Cameron, It’s You Who Needs Education About Cannabis
Don’t Let Cameron Get Away With His Untruths About Cannabis. Write A Letter!
So I wrote to Mr Cameron asking for a meeting about several factual inaccuracies in his answers. I know that many of you wrote in support.
There are four crucial issues involved:
Mr Cameron said that cannabis is:
1.”incredibly damaging”
2. “very, very toxic”
3. “and leads to, in many cases, huge mental health problems”
And then, with regard to medicinal cannabis, he said:
4. “That is a matter for the science and medical authorities to determine and they are free to make independent determinations about that.”
Now these are all inaccurate and false statements. Mr Cameron is, at the very least, misinformed. Clearly, there is an absolute obligation on him to correct these errors and to do so immediately.
When I hadn’t received a reply after about a week, on 9th March 2011 I wrote again:
Dear Mr Cameron,
I wrote to you just over a week ago (copy attached) asking for a meeting concerning your Al Jazeera YouTube interview about cannabis.
I represent a very substantial body of opinion in Britain which is deeply concerned at how inaccurate and misleading your words were. I know that you will have received many letters supporting my request for a meeting with you.
I still have faith that you do want to take account of public opinion and promote a policy that is fact and evidence based as well as having the consent of the majority. Please will you now agree to see me?
Personally, I am very worried when I see my prime minister speaking such untruths about a subject that I know about. It makes me wonder how accurate is your understanding of other issues. I hope that our economic, defence and social policy is being run on the basis of knowledge, rather than the misunderstanding you seem to have about cannabis.
Please can we arrange a meeting?
Yours sincerely,
Peter Reynolds
I had written to Mr Cameron on LCA letterhead showing the LCA headquarters address in Surrey. I was a little surprised then to receive a reply at my home address the following day!
Click To Enlarge
My response dated 16th March 2011:
Dear Mr Cameron,
Thank you for your reply dated 7th March 2011 which crossed with my letter of 9th March 2011.
With respect, this question is not for the Home Office. It is you who made the inaccurate and misleading statements about cannabis during your YouTube interview. Only you can correct the errors that you made.
In any event, I know what the Home Office will say. I could probably write their response myself so often have I seen the tired, formulaic replies they give to enquirers. I know their phrases off by heart!
Last week during the debate in the House of Lords on a Royal Commission into drug policy, every speaker condemned government policy. It was clear that Baroness Neville-Jones was embarrassed at having to defend what is an absurd and irrational policy that has little support in the country and has no basis in facts or evidence.
It is vital that the government steps back from its bigoted, wasteful and deeply damaging drugs policy. You are wasting billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, creating and supporting organised crime and causing immense harm to our society. Specifically on cannabis, and in direct contradiction to the untruths you told on YouTube, you are denying hundreds of thousands of people access to the medicine they need.
Mr Cameron, we are respectable and responsible citizens who are being persecuted and oppressed by an iniquitous and irrational policy of prohibition. It seems that you can only defend your policy by telling untruths. That cannot be allowed to stand.
Please will you meet with me so that I can explain just how inaccurate your remarks on YouTube were?
Yours sincerely,
Peter Reynolds
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Cameron On Cannabis Part 3 « Peter Reynolds
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