URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1162/a03.html Newshawk: www.ccguide.org.uk Pubdate: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 Source: Mirror, The (UK) Copyright: 2003 The Mirror Contact: mailbox@mirror.co.uk Website: http://www.mirror.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1161 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Shane+Collins LONDON ( Reuters ) - The Green Party's drugs spokesman has been jailed for growing cannabis at home, the group says. Police charged Shane Collins with possession and cultivation of the drug after finding 19 cannabis plants in the basement of his south London home. Collins, who stood unsuccessfully for the Greens in the 2001 general election, began a six-week jail term on Monday. "Putting someone in jail for doing something that has manifestly caused no one any harm is ridiculous," Darren Johnson, Green Party leader in the London Assembly, said in a statement. "This just reinforces our view that the law is in urgent need of reform." The Green Party advocates the legalisation of cannabis to follow the Dutch system of regulation and decriminalisation of recreational drugs such as amphetamines and ecstasy.