Source: Legalise Cannabis Alliance
Date: February 15 2008
Type: press Release

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Press Release from The Legalise Cannabis Alliance:
February 13 2008
No Embargo

Where is my Private Life?

Human Rights Law dictates that every person is entitled to a private life without interference from the authorities unless they have good reason. Those reasons are specifically given in International Legislation.

The criteria where our Right to a Private Life can be put aside are that what we are doing is that there is a risk to public health, public order, or the Rights of others – as well as in the interests of law. But the fact that an act may be illegal, is not enough on its own.

The law alone is not enough in order to prevent unjust laws being made at the whim of a leader or Government. A law cannot be made, for example, banning cabbages, and that then used to force entry into private dwellings looking for it, when, despite its legal status, the possession posed no risk to other people or the public. It is an
internationally-agreed safeguard against Tyranny.

Not so, apparently, for Neil Morgan in Wales, where police have continually raided his isolated dwelling in the woods and arrested him for growing a few plants for his own use: not cabbages, but cannabis.

Alun Buffry, a spokesman for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, said: “Mr Morgan’s case is particularly interesting as nobody else was involved, there is no allegation of supply, and he lived so far away from anyone else in a wood in South Wales.

“Moreover, in a previous court appearance in Swansea, police stated that although what he was doing was illegal, they did not consider it to be a criminal activity! Nobody was at risk of harm and nobody’s own Rights were being effected.

“Nevertheless, Morgan has been taken to court and is about to appear again this time at Crown Court in Cardiff on February 14th. This time he may be sent to prison – for what?

“If Mr Morgan is not entitled to his private life in that situation, then none of us are. It means that police can force their way into their homes without good reason, and get away with it. The police are breaking the law and in some countries the prosecution would be disqualified. In Britain it appears there is nowhere we can go for a Private Life – even miles from our nearest neighbours”

Neil Morgan has openly admitted that he grows cannabis for his own use – but the system seems set in concrete and he has made very little progress gaining support for his defence.

Ingo Wagenknecht, an ex-Green party European election candidate in East Anglia who stood on a policy of legalising all drugs in 1999 and 2004, commented on Neil Morgan’s case: “This is British injustice at its worst, highlighting the irrelevance of Human Rights legislation under an abomination of a Labour Government hell-bent on looking tough on drugs whilst punishing those who do no harm to others. Neil’s harassment by the police, who were not acting on behalf of any victim, as well as the great costs to the taxpayers, will hopefully be recognised by the jury.’

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Previous Press Report
 http://ccguide.org.uk/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12623
UK: Man claims right to smoke cannabis (Neil Morgan)

Neil Morgan 01639 730195
Ingo Wagenknecht 01508 538197  IngoWagenknecht@lca-uk.org
Alun Buffry  AlunBuffry@lca-uk.org
Legalise Cannabis Alliance  http://www.lca-uk.org/
Po Box 2883, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 9EE
 lca@lca-uk.org
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