Author Archives: Jane Reed

With our autumn conference on the horizon and after that, in many ways, a new beginning for our party I feel it is a good time to pause and reflect on how we pace our work. Having become an active Liberal Democrat member since the 2015 general election I am very aware that, quite understandably, our work is about doing, delivering leaflets, campaigning on the doorstep, meeting people, the general public and party members, committee work, speeches, writing, media interviews, and all the additional activities of being a councillor or MP etc. Especially during the general election campaigns the pace of this work was frenetic. You could see that our key people were becoming increasingly drained and exhausted by this 7 day a week election routine. Fortunately they all had the stamina and fortitude to withstand this but I question whether this is the most effective way to go about things. Whatever our lifestyle we all need time for rest and recuperation. Each person has to find the way to do this that suits them best. For me some of the activities that have this effect are daily meditation practice, walking in the countryside with friends and relatives and swimming. When walking in the countryside I go without my iphone so I can fully engage in conversation with my companions and enjoy the peace and quiet and beauty of the countryside.

This refreshment is so well expressed in the famous poem by the Welsh poet W.H,Davies (1871-1940)

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

During this year’s General Election campaign one of my friends, who doesn’t always vote Liberal Democrat, was enthusiastically considering voting for us. Then our cannabis policy was announced in the press. For her this cast a shadow over her voting intentions and she had grave doubts that she would now vote Liberal Democrat. She had run an urban centre in the UK for homeless men for 7 years. Around 50-80 men visited this centre each day. A common pattern, with a proportion of the men, was to arrive at the centre because of family breakup and unemployment but in a general state that they could be helped to turn their lives round. Then they would adopt the habit of taking cannabis regularly and over time become permanently mentally ill and no longer be in a state to access help. This is so tragic and so sad.

I’m personally in favour of legalising and regulating cannabis use. The aspects of doing this that particularly interest me are, those who choose to use cannabis for recreational and/or medical purposes are no longer criminalised and users can ensure being supplied with cannabis without impurities which is better for their health. With regard to the present position of criminalisation there is maximum sentence of 5 years in prison for use of cannabis and a maximum of 14 years in prison for trafficking. However in recent years the cautions for initial possession and people charged have fallen. From 2010 to 2015 by 48% and 33% respectively. This has resulted in the number of people imprisoned for this offence being relatively low compared to the general prison population for example in 2015, there were 1,363 imprisoned for offences to do with cannabis – about 1 to 1.5 % of the total prison population. These people are probably mostly cannabis traffickers. These figures all indicate that cannabis users are no longer a priority for the police no doubt influenced by recent cuts.  There are of course other benefits of legalising and regulating cannabis. It is thought that annually about I billion pounds could be raised in tax revenue in addition to the savings on criminal justice costs and regulation should create extensive employment through production, distribution and selling.