British campaigner seeking legalization of medicinal pot arrested
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/natwor/docs/britain0916.htm
Published Sunday, September 16, 2001
MANCHESTER, England -- A campaigner
for the legalization of marijuana was arrested Saturday after opening Britain's
first Dutch-style cafe openly selling the drug.
Colin Davies, a multiple sclerosis
sufferer who uses marijuana to ease his symptoms, was involved in a scuffle
with police soon after opening the doors of the Dutch Experience in a Manchester
suburb 180miles northwest of London.
As he was put into the back of a
police van, one of his supporters shouted, "He's a healer, not a dealer."
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester
Police said Davies was arrested for possessing marijuana "with intent to
supply" it to others.
Davies, founder of the Medical Marijuana
Cooperative, which campaigns for the drug to be prescribed for illnesses
such as multiple sclerosis, made headlines last year when he was photographed
handing Queen Elizabeth II a bouquet containing pot plants during a royal
visit to the city.
Kate Bradley, a former policewoman
who has smoked marijuana since 1991 to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis,
said the police raid was an "undignified and horrendous experience."
Bradley, who uses a wheelchair, said
for many people marijuana is the only drug that helps with the pain.
In the Netherlands, marijuana is
technically illegal, but authorities tolerate its use and it is openly
sold in small amounts.
Associated Press