<nettime> but did she inhale?

["Dan" <dan@eastbase.com>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Morning Nettimers,

Man gives Queen 'cannabis' posy

http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid%5F971000/971309.stm

A man who claims to have handed a bunch of flowers containing a
marijuana plant to the Queen is to be questioned by the police.
Colin Davies, who has campaigned for the drug to be legalised, says
he handed over a selection of blooms including the distinctive green
leaves during her trip to Manchester with the Duke of Edinburgh on
Thursday.

The Queen apparently unwittingly accepted the illegal substance from
Mr Davies, 43, outside the Lowry Arts Centre in Trafford, which she
had just officially opened.

She then walked with the bouquet towards the Royal limousine and
handed it to an attendant who put it in the back of the car - but it
did not go back to Buckingham Palace with her.

"It was not on the Royal flight with Her Majesty," said a palace
spokeswoman.

Flowers presented to the Queen during engagements are normally
distributed by police to local hospitals or old people's homes.

The location of the cannabis-containing bouquet is unknown.

Mr Davies, who lives in Stockport and founded the Medical Marijuana
Co-operative, claims he grew the plant himself.

"It was a harmless way of trying to bring to the notice of Her
Majesty the ludicrous restrictions on cannabis," he said.

"We set up the co-operative to supply sick people who benefit from
the therapeutic value of cannabis."

Detective Chief Inspector David Booth, head of Greater Manchester
Police special branch said: "There were more important issues for our
staff to be concerned with on what was a highly successful day.

"However, arrangements will now be made to speak to Mr Davies about
his claims."

The incident comes soon after the debate on cannabis was re-ignited
by eight shadow cabinet members admitting they had used it.

Their revelations followed shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe
proposing a mandatory £100 fine for possessing even the smallest
amount of drugs or having them in the bloodstream.

The proposal was quickly condemned not just by drugs workers and
rights groups, but by the police and some Tory Party members.

- --

dan@eastbase.com

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com>

iQA/AwUBOeq4anxfQGCbD2UrEQJ8AgCgo+qN8JNMyHYNZL7W8+h+Xa5B3r4AoLyL
PuzJPEoSxUdH51Fr882SRJt6
=7TVL
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net