Press Conference – “Taxing The UK Cannabis Market”

CLEAR is calling a press conference on 14th September to announce the publication of the report “Taxing The UK Cannabis Market”, commissioned from the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit (IDMU).

With the assistance of the Labour MP Paul Flynn, we have been able to book the Jubilee Room, just off the 900 year old Westminster Hall, right in the heart of the Houses of Parliament. This is as big an opportunity to get our message across as the British cannabis campaign has ever enjoyed.

IDMU is an authoritative and universally respected source of expert information on drugs. It has previously been commissioned by the UK government, the BBC and has provided expert reports for defence and prosecution in the UK courts. The accuracy and credibility of its work is beyond doubt.

The report itself is embargoed until 2.00pm on 14th September. At that time it will be published on this website and available in hard copy at the press conference. Its conclusions are quite astonishing and if drugs policy were based on facts and evidence it should cause the government to sweep away the present disastrous regime. It is clear that a tax and regulate policy would massively reduce all health and social harms, protect children, eliminate illegal “cannabis factories” and contribute billions in new revenue to the exchequer.

The press conference will be chaired by Peter Reynolds. We hope to have cross party support as well as speakers from IDMU, science, medicine and law enforcement. The main objective of the conference is to apprise the media of the extraordinary range of benefits of a tax and regulate policy on cannabis. Government ministers, MPs and senior civil servants are also invited. Anyone may attend but space is limited and you should arrive at least 30 minutes early in order to clear security.

This is, we believe, a very significant step forward in the campaign for a safer, more responsible and intelligent policy on cannabis.

Watch this space for details of speakers and those attending.