Change of Cannabis Law in the uk 27th of february!!!

[Matchbox]

People it has finally happened no it is not legal but read this
http://clear-uk.org/putting-peter-hitchens-and-kathy-gyngell-straight/

From the 27th of february if you don't have more than 9 plant's you're not selling and you are using cannabis for medicinal purposes the police will not even bother as the CPS crown prosecution service (courts) will not be bothered.
My doctors notes state that i use marijuana medicinally for my anger problems ANYTHING IS AN EXCUSE
finally you can get high in the uk and grow without the risk of going prison
Police will still take you're weed, hydroponics grow lights etc... but no prison as long as you don't have to many plants everyone this a proud day for the uk

Awesome mate +rep for ya (and its not cheating lol)! Cheers for bringing that to our attention I suppose it will only be on BBC News for like the tiniest article when the day actually comes!

Hopefully some sort of legalization will happen within our lifetime!

 

[WeedKillsBrainCells]

2 things
one im really not getting my hopes up as far as the 'growing up to 9 plants' thing. maybe if there were multiple sources or a gov one then i would...

secondly it was obvious that e petition was gonna have potheads going to it rather than anti cannabis people lol but im glad. will it actually result in it being raised in house of commons

 

[Elliesdaddy]

I was told by members of clear the cannabis law reform that it needs 100000 votes that is why we are tring to spread the word there would neally have 100000 votes by now its just the government are keeping it on the low people need to find out about the petition nearly all my mates are going to join it. That's 500 i can get and more off these sites Word will increase migration of European stoners win will move here and legally be able to vote even if not the website wants no proof just a name which you can fake and a email i think we need to get the word spread and peter Reynolds is doing a great job i think if we can get this to happen it really can get us out of the recession create so much more tourism which means money money money for us to become a very strong economy

 

[kevin murphy]

u have my vote mate and rep fior it

 

[shrigpiece]

Nice find bro, reped ya.

 

[parttimer]

Unfortunately the petition is falling way short and at current rates will only have about 40000 by the time it closes.
Also any signature that is not valid, ie a fake address will be removed from the system and not counted.

 

[so.far.so.good]

When we pay taxes why do governments give us bloody thieving cops in return? This issue needs to be addressed pronto. Cops that steal from peaceful citizens need to be held accountable and incarcerated for their thiefs to humanity.

 

[Nocturn3]

People it has finally happened no it is not legal but read this
http://clear-uk.org/putting-peter-hitchens-and-kathy-gyngell-straight/

From the 27th of february if you don't have more than 9 plant's you're not selling and you are using cannabis for medicinal purposes the police will not even bother as the CPS crown prosecution service (courts) will not be bothered.
My doctors notes state that i use marijuana medicinally for my anger problems ANYTHING IS AN EXCUSE
finally you can get high in the uk and grow without the risk of going prison
Police will still take you're weed, hydroponics grow lights etc... but no prison as long as you don't have to many plants everyone this a proud day for the uk

You are vastly overstating what actually transpired the other day, and the information you are giving out is misleading.

No law changes happened, just a new set of sentencing guidelines announced. These are guidelines that judges use to decide how to punish people. Overall, not much is different to the standard punishment patterns that small growers generally got anyway (fine and/or community service), although the inclusion of several bands of severity (based on plant numbers, assuming 40 grams per plant) give people some wiggle room, if they want to lower their chances of potential punishment. The main positive is that the lowest band of punishment no longer includes prison as an option, but there are some things to take into account that could push you up into the next band, even with 9 plants or less. Also, remember that these are just guidelines, judges can go outside of them if they see fit.

There were a few new things added, like medicinal use being allowed as mitigation (note, mitigation does not equal defense, it just means that your punishment will be adjusted to be slightly less severe), and some stuff that isn't quite as promising, like potency being an aggrivating factor (ie:worse punishment).

I can't be arsed explaining all the ins and outs, but the document is here, for anyone interested:
http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/MCSG_(web)_-_January_2012.pdf

Page 225 for the start of the drugs stuff, page 239 for cultivation specifically.


Note that all this stuff still applies to SENTENCING. In other words, AFTER the police have broken down your door at 5 AM, trashed your house, and arrested you. There is absolutely no reason to assume that the police and cps will not bother, as you stated in your post, and Reynolds is playing a dangerous game with people's freedoms by deliberately spreading this kind of rumour.

I won't get started on the Reynolds thing here, but suffice to say I don't think he's doing anyone any favours with his approach and conduct.

 

[parttimer]

The main advantage to the change in sentencing is that certain judges who have a history of dishing out very severe sentences for the most minor of offences, just look at Sheffield Court for a prime example. Will no longer be able to get away with it.
With the new guidelines if such a judge were to do so again (after feb) the case will be available for an immediate appeal due to sentencing outside the guidelines and thus the first trial would be seen as a waste of Money by the CPS which is why the view is held that the police will relax their efforts at catching smalltime home growers because if the CPS are not interested then neither are they.
Its only a small step forward, but at least it is a step forward, and the thing I find most pleasing is the complete lack of coverage the main media sources have taken, (apart from the Daily Mail) they dont seem to be launching opposition campaigns and that truly is a move in the right direction.
I agree Peter Reynolds headline was a bit over the top IMO and I noticed that someone at CLEAR was quick to add reminders and legal warnings both above and below the headline that it is still Illegal to grow in the UK. But CLEAR still seems to be the only group in the UK that is making concerted and organised effort to effect change so until something better turns up lets get behind them and help with the fight!

 

[Elliesdaddy]

nocturn3 are you not realising as long as you keep it below 9 plant's you can't go prison... yes it's not a change in law but you know what i mean this is a big step forward for the UK

 

[kevin murphy]

u speak some real nice sense mate lets hope it a step forward pal...

 

[WeedKillsBrainCells]

You are vastly overstating what actually transpired the other day, and the information you are giving out is misleading.

No law changes happened, just a new set of sentencing guidelines announced. These are guidelines that judges use to decide how to punish people. Overall, not much is different to the standard punishment patterns that small growers generally got anyway (fine and/or community service), although the inclusion of several bands of severity (based on plant numbers, assuming 40 grams per plant) give people some wiggle room, if they want to lower their chances of potential punishment. The main positive is that the lowest band of punishment no longer includes prison as an option, but there are some things to take into account that could push you up into the next band, even with 9 plants or less. Also, remember that these are just guidelines, judges can go outside of them if they see fit.

There were a few new things added, like medicinal use being allowed as mitigation (note, mitigation does not equal defense, it just means that your punishment will be adjusted to be slightly less severe), and some stuff that isn't quite as promising, like potency being an aggrivating factor (ie:worse punishment).

I can't be arsed explaining all the ins and outs, but the document is here, for anyone interested:
http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/MCSG_(web)_-_January_2012.pdf

Page 225 for the start of the drugs stuff, page 239 for cultivation specifically.


Note that all this stuff still applies to SENTENCING. In other words, AFTER the police have broken down your door at 5 AM, trashed your house, and arrested you. There is absolutely no reason to assume that the police and cps will not bother, as you stated in your post, and Reynolds is playing a dangerous game with people's freedoms by deliberately spreading this kind of rumour.

I won't get started on the Reynolds thing here, but suffice to say I don't think he's doing anyone any favours with his approach and conduct.

I appreciate the clarity given as I didn't know where to look to get the unbiased facts. Sentencing guidelines are pretty factual lol. I was accidentally reading category 4 class A and was like woah worse than I thought lol. Class B isn't as bad as I thought. I assume most will fall under 'lesser role' if it's just a home grown op?

Aggravating factors is another good mention, having people around the grow that aren't involved is one, elliesdaddy should pay close attention to that should Ellie be around occasionally, as do most of us I'm sure.

+rep for playing devils advocate and giving the hard facts

The main advantage to the change in sentencing is that certain judges who have a history of dishing out very severe sentences for the most minor of offences, just look at Sheffield Court for a prime example. Will no longer be able to get away with it.
With the new guidelines if such a judge were to do so again (after feb) the case will be available for an immediate appeal due to sentencing outside the guidelines and thus the first trial would be seen as a waste of Money by the CPS which is why the view is held that the police will relax their efforts at catching smalltime home growers because if the CPS are not interested then neither are they.
Its only a small step forward, but at least it is a step forward, and the thing I find most pleasing is the complete lack of coverage the main media sources have taken, (apart from the Daily Mail) they dont seem to be launching opposition campaigns and that truly is a move in the right direction.
I agree Peter Reynolds headline was a bit over the top IMO and I noticed that someone at CLEAR was quick to add reminders and legal warnings both above and below the headline that it is still Illegal to grow in the UK. But CLEAR still seems to be the only group in the UK that is making concerted and organised effort to effect change so until something better turns up lets get behind them and help with the fight!

I hadn't heard of this clear thing, but with a group like that it's important to be responsible and not say 'never' as I think we're a while off that. Looks good though or better. The uk is fairly liberal in terms of some places in the world, I'd like to see it be more lenient when it came to personal use and growing. Bring back the hippy era and not the big brother age.

 

[Elliesdaddy]

I don't have "Ellie" in this property EVER before you think i would have my daughter near any drugs, even if it is natures herb.

 

[Pastures Green]

I think you've said it there mate. The fact is that at the moment weed is being legalised, or decriminalised (as our government put it) in many places all across Europe.
This puts political pressure on for us to do the same. Now what our government is trying to say is that they no longer wanna come after people for it but they don't want anyone thinking they've been pressured into changing the law because of outside influence either. At the same time they don't want anyone to think that they've taken they're hands of the reins as it were, hence we get this change in law that makes exceptions. Add to this the fact that everybody knows stupid amounts of money have been spent on the police busting people for possessing or dealing weed, at a time of serious money problems across the world! Pointless when you think about just how many people smoke it, that makes a law against it unenforceable. ...so good times

 

[TWS]

When we pay taxes why do governments give us bloody thieving cops in return? This issue needs to be addressed pronto. Cops that steal from peaceful citizens need to be held accountable and incarcerated for their thiefs to humanity.

Correct ! The law is no better then Calif law. There is to much grey area and the law can still do what they please when they catch you. 9 plants is week for a indoor grow by the way, better then ours though. We are going through the same thing, It's legal but in reality it's not.


Begging for Rep is a cheap way to earn it!

 

[fslashthroat]

2 things
one im really not getting my hopes up as far as the 'growing up to 9 plants' thing. maybe if there were multiple sources or a gov one then i would...

secondly it was obvious that e petition was gonna have potheads going to it rather than anti cannabis people lol but im glad. will it actually result in it being raised in house of commons

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16155188

sky news, second link down on a google search..

 

[WeedKillsBrainCells]

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16155188

sky news, second link down on a google search..

You give me an elipses as if it actually mentions 9 plants when in fact all it does is say the law is strengthened on commercial growers

 

[parttimer]

Just an addition to this thread. There is a particular Judge in Sheffield who has a very malicious and IMHO an uneducated attitude towards cannabis, in his most recent case he told the accused that due to the new regulations he was forced to let him go, he actually said "if you had been here a month ago you would be going to jail instead".
But unfortunatly another person Winston Mathews caught with 100+ plants which he used to self medicate a spine injury (and it is known by the authorities that its purely medical as he has been an activist for years) has recently been sentenced to 16 months in prison.

 

[Elliesdaddy]

Just an addition to this thread. There is a particular Judge in Sheffield who has a very malicious and IMHO an uneducated attitude towards cannabis, in his most recent case he told the accused that due to the new regulations he was forced to let him go, he actually said "if you had been here a month ago you would be going to jail instead".
But unfortunatly another person Winston Mathews caught with 100+ plants which he used to self medicate a spine injury (and it is known by the authorities that its purely medical as he has been an activist for years) has recently been sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Yes i know about Winston Matthews that has caught the heart of smokers across the UK.
One these guidelines although they have already started being practiced as i'm guessing your a member of clear from your info these guidelines don't have to be followed and 100 plant's i think you will still get into trouble with these guidelines, it's taking the piss a bit don't you think.

 

[dankerous]

I have the crown court sentencing guide,you can find it on their website, it is 9 plants 40gs per a plant that info comes from the court sentencing guidelines,
Also it has little to do with the government and more to do with the head of drugs squad in the uk saying we havent got the resources/police to chase up every pot head like we have been made to do by the government so long,while most of the judges in the country say the same thing,plus the ex head of mi5 and so on,its to do with Law makers not policy makers,hence it being court guidelines not government ones

Correct ! The law is no better then Calif law. There is to much grey area and the law can still do what they please when they catch you. 9 plants is week for a indoor grow by the way, better then ours though. We are going through the same thing, It's legal but in reality it's not.


Begging for Rep is a cheap way to earn it!