Peter Reynolds Watch The Leader of CLEAR | Cannabis Law Reform
Author: Kevin John Braid
Possibly the largest ever protest against Britain’s cannabis laws took place in Hyde Park, London, on 20th April 2013. The event was organised by the London Cannabis Club, the largest UK based cannabis page on Facebook.
Over 10,000 people attended the gathering, which received a lot of national media coverage and was a peaceful protest, with only two arrests taking place on the day.
Some of the media coverage was good, however, predictably some anti cannabis campaigners were outraged at the fact the police didn’t arrest all 10,000 people who had descended onto Hyde Park. All of course failing to explain the logistical difficulties of arresting thousands of people and closing down the largest park in London for the day. The Daily Mail initially published a factual account of the day, which was subsequently changed to make it more negative about cannabis.
The BBC published a very biased piece on its web site about the 420 smoke out, which gave several lines of quotes to Mary Brett, a prominent anti cannabis campaigner in the UK.
This prompted NORML UK, who helped organise the event, to complain to the BBC and write this blog about the biased BBC coverage.
One person who was noticeably absent from the massive pot protest was Peter Reynolds, leader of CLEAR, Cannabis Law Reform, who claims to represent the millions of pot smokers in Britain that want to see laws on cannabis changed.
What did Peter Reynolds have to say about the fact over 10,000 people took to Hyde Park to protest at the prohibition of cannabis in the UK?
Der Führer proclaimed the Hyde Park 420 event on 20th April 2013 was not a success for the British cannabis campaign. He writes it might have been an enjoyable social event, but its effect has been to associate the legitimate campaign for cannabis law reform with the spectacle of hundreds of children smoking weed in public.
He further writes this is not the way to advance the cause of cannabis law reform and says adult users and particularly those who need cannabis as medicine have been seriously set back by this event.
To illustrate this, Reynolds posts a photo of some young people at the event referring them as children … except they were not children, they were all young adults over the age of 18 who were selling cupcakes at the event.
Reynolds claims it is hardly surprising media coverage was negative, because there were photos of young people at the event. Yeah right, as if Peter Hitchens and the Daily Mail were ever going to congratulate the organisers of the London Cannabis Club for a mass protest of 10,000 people openly smoking cannabis in Hyde Park. One gets the feeling that Peter Reynolds hates pot smokers and pot culture as much as the Daily Mail does.
Some elements of the media reported only a few hundred people went to the 420 smoke out, whereas the organisers put the figure at over 10,000. Reynolds, who didn’t attend the event, gives us a headcount and tells us from the photographs he deduced around 5,000 people attended.
A more sophisticated individual might have used photo-trigonometry and assumed the pictures were a good representation of a given amount of space, made a few sample counts and then extrapolated the total based on the size of the area that those people occupied. Peter just pulled a number out of his ass.
I’ve spoken to many people who were there and they all agree there was at least 10,000 people. How the hell would Reynolds know how many people attended from a few photographs, he just wanted to talk the event down, because he was not welcome there. Indeed, he would not dare show his face, since he knows he would most likely get lynched.
Peter Reynolds has not always been opposed to protesting in public against our cannabis laws. In May 2011, shortly after he took over the Legalise Cannabis Alliance and turned it into CLEAR, Reynolds wrote about a march in Cardiff he took part in that he was inspired and he knew many more felt the same. “We weren’t a million on our own but we were close to a thousand,” said Peter Reynolds.
So it seems protesting about cannabis laws and smoking cannabis in public is only acceptable if Peter Reynolds is present … even a million people would be acceptable, as long as Peter Reynolds was there to make it all look respectable, otherwise it’s a no no. First he is for protest, then he is against it; for a man who “stands by his statements” he has got more flip-flops than a foot fetish website.
I’m sure I’m not the only person who sees the irony in Peter Reynolds claiming 10,000 people gathering in London to protest against pot laws is bad for the cannabis cause, yet in the eyes of Reynolds, writing racist and homophobic blogs and ranting about evil Jews does nothing to harm the cause.
Apparently, the Sunday Times contacted British drug reform groups Release and Transform during the week for a piece they are doing about cannabis, however, my sources tell me the Sunday Times reporter was more interested in asking questions about Reynolds’ offensive views and the division he has created in the cannabis community than talking about the actual issues.
meh!
I wonder if any CLEAR members went and then felt guilty after they read PR’s disapproval in his blog?
I’m sure any CLEAR members that mistakenly attended the event, failing to correctly interpret the intentions of their great leader, engaged in acts of brutal self-flagellation in order to atone for their sins. The streets of London were no doubt strewn with the blood and torn flesh of these repentant followers.
We all know that if PR still had the support he had two years ago he would have been there smoking his brains out . Then he would have been on Clear the next day telling people what a success it was and he was proud of how many people came to support a change in law . He is just acting like a child by saying anything negative and pissed of because he was not welcome. He fears NORMLUK because they are making progress and he is scared that the media will stop calling him when they want questions on cannabis .
Am I the only one that noticed an abundance of CLEAR leaflets on the floor at Hyde Park this year?
Who is this chump anyway? He looks like a shit doorman from a grab a granny night! I was googling looking for cannabis seeds and then ran into this baboon.
if we had a competition for the best comment, you sir would have won it hands down, twice over lol
Hmmm, difficult to see why he thought it would be a good idea to take over the party, offend the majority of members, and turn it in to a lobby for drug companies…. oh hang on, wait, i forgot… money and greed…
Peter Reynolds hates civil disobedience. He thinks it is ineffective.
Civil disobedience is not only effective, but the *key* to social progress. None of the major concessions granted by the powerful have been achieved without massive disobedience. British out of India/Malaya/Cyprus/Palestine, etc. The eight-hour day. Votes for women. The abolition of slavery. The end of the T4 euthanasia programme in Germany. The Factory Acts. The repeal of prohibition. The end of the Vietnam War. Racial equality. Prison reform. The end of child-labour. Gay equality. The Factory Acts. Health and safety. Decriminalisation of medical cannabis-related activities in many places around the world. Legalisation of cannabis-related activities in Colorado and other places.
Think of any social progress we’ve made, and the mainspring is disobedience. Every societal advance, bar none. Check the historical record, I have and I’m not wrong. Philosopher dissidents Leo Tolstoy, Henry David Thoreau and Mohandas Gandhi considered disobedience as not just our right but civic duty. Decent people diobey; indecent people obey. It isn’t an exaggeration to declare disobedience the essence of democracy. Compare the record of those who were ‘just following orders’.
Peter Reynolds detests the idea of disobedience, believing it to be ineffective. Given the spectacular achievements of civil disobedience throughout history, he can’t mean what he is saying. This may be due to a total ignorance of history, but one suspects a more political reason – Reynolds is terrified of showing up in public where there’s a risk of meeting cannabis users. He has upset far too many of us.
Neither Reynolds, nor his abject catamite ‘Smithers’ Williams would dare to turn up to a smoke-out anywhere in the UK. They have earned the hostility of the vast majority of cannabis activists, and the cannabis movement as a whole. Through a relentless campaign of threats, lies, censorship, intimidation, informing the police, lawsuits and take-down letters, Peter and Derek have tried to silence contradiction and dissent. This is Peter and Clear’s hatred of democracy in practice. They’re spoilt toddlers, crying to the nearest authority figure as soon as anyone complains about their latest tantrum. Sadly, when toddlers like these become adults, they turn into fascists.
…and to think Reynolds once called me politically naive for questioning his tendency towards obedience.
love the, and a twat called derek comment careful they’ll be takin you to court hehehehe
I Wonder if Peter has ever heard the expression – Jealousy never pays…