Pubdate: Mon, 19 Dec 2005
Source: Irish Examiner (Ireland)
Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 2005
Contact:  http://www.examiner.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/144
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

STING CAMPAIGNS FOR CANNABIS

Rocker Sting is campaigning to stop British prime  minister Tony Blair
from upgrading the legal  categorisation of cannabis from a class C to
class B  drug.

The Roxanne hitmaker fears the political leader is  planning a
high-profile policy u-turn which will see  him vow to tackle drug use
head-on and reclassify the  drug, despite officially downgrading it
from class B to  its current status in January.

Sting, 54, has added his signature to a letter for  Blair alongside
those of actress Jean Simmons and  former Spandau Ballet star Gary
Kemp, insisting the  reclassification has been a success, saving up to
 200,000 hours of police time.

The letter reads: "Such a move would simply add to  public confusion,
inconsistency and the waste of police  resources, without delivering
any health or social  benefits."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin