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Legalise Cannabis party CISTA fined £7,000 after failing to send its paperwork to Electoral Commission
Legalise Cannabis party CISTA fined £7,000 after failing to send its paperwork to Electoral Commission
(about 11 hours later)
A political party that campaigns for the legalisation of Cannabis has been fined £7,000 after failing to do any of its required financial paperwork.
A political party that campaigns for the legalisation of Cannabis has been fined £7,000 after failing to do any of its required financial paperwork.
The Electoral Commission says it offered Cannabis Is Safter Than Alcohol (CISTA) help to send it the right documents “despite our efforts” no financial returns were received.
The Electoral Commission says it offered Cannabis Is Safter Than Alcohol (CISTA) help to send it the right documents “despite our efforts” no financial returns were received.
The party, which has been registered since February 2015, contested 32 constituencies across the UK at the 2015 general election. It candidates general gained between 0.3 and 1.5 per cent of the vote.
The party, which has been registered since February 2015, contested 32 constituencies across the UK at the 2015 general election. It candidates general gained between 0.3 and 1.5 per cent of the vote.
Its main policy is to set up a Royal Commission to review the UK’s drug laws.
Its main policy is to set up a Royal Commission to review the UK’s drug laws.
“We have fined 'Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol' a total of £7,000 for failing to deliver any of the required financial returns since they registered with us,” the Electoral Commission said in a statement.
“We have fined 'Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol' a total of £7,000 for failing to deliver any of the required financial returns since they registered with us,” the Electoral Commission said in a statement.
“We have issued these fines because despite our efforts to assist Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol to comply with their legal responsibilities, they have failed to deliver any of the financial returns required.”
“We have issued these fines because despite our efforts to assist Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol to comply with their legal responsibilities, they have failed to deliver any of the financial returns required.”
Having been reclassified in 2009 from a Class C to a Class B drug, cannabis is now the most used illegal drug within the United Kingdom. The UK is also, however, the only country where Sativex – a prescribed drug that helps to combat muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis and contains some ingredients that are also found in cannabis - is licensed as a treatment
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Although many people believe the consumption of cannabis in North Korea to be legal, the official law regarding the drug has never been made entirely clear whilst under Kim Jong Un’s regime. However, it is said that the North Korean leader himself has openly said that he does not consider cannabis to be a drug and his regime doesn’t take any issue with the consumption or sale of the drug
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In the Netherlands smoking cannabis is legal, given that it is smoked within the designated ‘smoking areas’ and you don’t possess more than 5 grams for personal use. It is also legal to sell the substance, but only in specified coffee shops
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Although in some states of America cannabis has now been legalised, prior to the legalisation, police in the U.S. could make a marijuana-related arrest every 42 seconds, according to US News and World Report. The country also used to spend around $3.6 billion a year enforcing marijuana law, the American Civil Liberties Union notes
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Despite cannabis being officially illegal in Spain, the European hotspot has recently started to be branded, ‘the new Amsterdam’. This is because across Spain there are over 700 ‘Cannabis Clubs’ – these are considered legal venues to consume cannabis in because the consumption of the drug is in private, and not in public. These figures have risen dramatically in the last three years – in 2010 there were just 40 Cannabis Clubs in the whole of Spain. Recent figures also show that in Catalonia alone there are 165,000 registered members of cannabis clubs – this amounts to over 5 million euros (£4 million) in revenue each month
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In December 2013, the House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill legalizing and regulating the production and sale of the drug. But the president has since postponed the legalization of cannabis until to 2015 and when it is made legal, it will be the authorities who will grow the cannabis that can be sold legally. Buyers must be 18 or older, residents of Uruguay, and must register with the authorities
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Despite the fact that laws prohibiting the sale and misuse of cannabis exist and is considered a habit only entertained by lower-income groups, it is very rarely enforced. The occasional use of cannabis in community gatherings is broadly tolerated as a centuries old custom. The open use of cannabis by Sufis and Hindus as a means to induce euphoria has never been challenged by the state. Further, large tracts of cannabis grow unchecked in the wild
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In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize the use of all drugs, and started treating drug users as sick people, instead of criminals. However, you can still be arrested or assigned mandatory rehab if you are caught several times in possession of drugs
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Although the use of cannabis is currently illegal, it is said that Puerto Rico are in the process of decriminalising it
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The US state became the first in the country to legalise marijuana in January 2014. In February 2015, President Obama recently said he expects to see more states "looking into" legalisation. However, it is illegally to grow more than six cannabis plants and to possess more than 28 grams of the drug
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Oaksterdam in Oakland, California, is the world's only university dedicated to the study and cultivation of cannabis. If you are court in California with anything up to an ounce of cannabis, you will be fine $100, but you will not get a criminal record, nor will you have to appear in court
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Cannabis is grown in the wild and has been used to treat conditions such as gout and malaria. But, officially the substance is illegal to consume, possess and sell
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The party is registered separately in Northern Ireland and Great Britain and both branches were fined £3750 each.
The party is registered separately in Northern Ireland and Great Britain and both branches were fined £3750 each.
The Independent contacted CISTA for a response to this story but has not immediately heard back.
The Independent contacted CISTA for a response to this story but has not immediately heard back.
