Possession
by Rob Smith

It was just after nine pm on Wednesday 2nd May, when, having just seen the end of a small dispute at a party on Melrose Road, I reached my car and began my journey to a friend’s house close by. I reached as far as Coupe Road when a Police patrol vehicle, quite within the bounds of duty, enquired who I was. It was the uniformed driver that smelt the sweet smell of green matter, that my passenger may well have been smoking prior.

Without resisting, a search of my person revealed I had five grams of the green matter, which for my personal use, I felt should draw me no more than a caution.

Attended by Howells solicitors they soon relayed their surprise that the Police wanted to push this case to court. Even the arresting officers agreed this all reflected a huge waste of their own and official court time.

Charged with possession, booked and photographed, I was placed in a cell. Several hours slowly passed as I languished in their custody. I began to recall how, as a child, I was easily recognised as a prime target for this criminalisation. I hear the voices calling for the legalisation of cannabis and know how much this would do to reverse a situation that has forever made people like me an easy target to cast into your underworld. A whole nation held back despite the knowledge that cannabis is less harmful, and in many cases more effective, than some have allowed the vast majority to perceive.

Now it is time to make a change, that gives people like me a chance to continue our climb from the grips of an underworld, that without us is vastly in trouble.