Civil Disobedience in Devon, Club Style

Cannabis Clubs have been popping up all over the UK during the last few years.  Largely with thanks to social media, cannabis users are now empowered with scientific, medical and legal information that was beyond access to most of us only a few years ago.

Cannabis Clubs have been popping up all over the UK during the last few years. Largely with thanks to social media, cannabis users are now empowered with scientific, medical and legal information that was beyond access to most of us only a few years ago. This newly accessible information is giving us the confidence to openly challenge the ungovernable farce that is UK drug policy. Websites such as Facebook are enabling public and popular support of pro-cannabis organizations and giving people the security of a ‘safety-in-numbers’ approach to campaigning and protesting. National and international networking has also mushroomed as a result of the Facebook phenomenon so it was no surprise that people here quickly followed suit after the Spaniards picked up the idea and ran with it.

Down in Devon a group of three mates, Deej, Jordan and Ryan, decided to step up to the challenge and form Devon’s first official Cannabis Club:

Thanks for the chat guys, what’s the club all about? How long have you been clubbing?

“We, the Devon Cannabis Club, were founded in 2011 as a place for cannabis consumers to socialise online and share thoughts and ideas about how to change the cannabis laws in this country.

“We are part of the United Kingdom Cannabis Social Clubs network whose aim is the formation of clubs under the social club model that has been so successful in Spain. Obviously our laws are a little different over here because the Spanish are protected by their constitution, but we feel we can use their model to create non-profit clubs which cut out the criminal element and could then be used as an example to the UK government with regards to how cannabis could and should be regulated.

Nice.  Can you tell us a bit about your real-world activities? 

“Sure, to this end we’ve organised protests in Exeter for the past two years.  We set up an information stall in a local playing field and invite people to come along and join us in a display of civil disobedience by openly smoking or otherwise consuming cannabis. The response to these events has been great. Local media have picked up on them and given us largely positive coverage and the police have been extremely cooperative – no arrests or cautions have been issued at any event so far.

“In the near future we hope to secure a venue for regular public meetings which will encourage more people to get involved in taking our campaign from Facebook out into the real world. We have also just organised a DCC trip to Amsterdam in November so we’re all looking forward to that, especially us as it was a trip to Amsterdam that inspired us to set this thing up in the first place.

It was at this years DCC event in Exeter that we managed to catch up with the crew.  Things didn’t look too good on arrival.  The wrong sort of clouds were threatening to dump their loads on the paddy wagon, police dog van, bobbies on the beat and small groups of heads that were wandering around looking for the event.

We all found it after too much trouble.  A gazebo playing some old roots reggae was tucked away in a discreet corner of the fields and a small group of people were starting to gather in front of it.  It was like a little low-key one gazebo festival – people sat on blankets and jackets chatting and smoking, eating and drinking.  A few hippies and a converted Baba lent a colourful eccentricity, a pair of diehard old skool heads turned up to show solidarity, peeps from the Hip Hop nation came to represent, The Dam Good Headshop from Plymouth dropped by and handed out loads of free goodie bags and then we all got excited and everyone got involved in the occasion.  That meant skinning up, getting blazed and sending endless clouds of blue smoke downwind into the face of Carlo, our friendly cop for the afternoon.  He must’ve slept well that night!

Speaking of which, we took the opportunity to have a chat with the local police and this is the gist of what they told us:

‘Our job here today is to facilitate public protest, keep it adult and also to remind you guys that not everyone agrees with what you are doing.  We have been instructed to arrest anyone we see with cannabis in their possession – but I haven’t seen any cannabis here today.’

Carlo refused to give his personal opinion on the subject and dodged a debate on the politics and science of the issue.  ‘The police aren’t political’, and I’m an alien from the ninth dimension.

Anyhow, there wasn’t much policing to do.  At one point a group of teenagers arrived.  They managed to blast a couple of hoochies and share a few laughs before they were moved on but apart from that Carlo and his Specials had an easy shift.  The rain stayed away, Deej, Jordan and Ryan made sure the music never stopped, there was plenty of information available for digestion and the eighty or so folk that participated all had a high old time, made some new friends and went away afterwards to spread the word for next year.  This protest was all about civil disobedience; in Britain today a group of like-minded people gathering in public to share their love and enthusiasm for the world’s most versatile and historically significant plant is, apparently, to be civilly disobedient.

Soft Secrets would like to thank the DCC for all their work and, on behalf of the attendees at the Flowerpot Playing Fields protest, thanks to Exeter police for their tolerance and understanding.  

Devon Cannabis Club can be contacted via Facebook:
www.facebook.com/devoncclub or
by email: devoncannabisclub@yahoo.co.uk