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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 11 April 2008

The Lib Dem leaflets that were distributed in the street close to City and Islington College

Lib Dem roaches handed out in street

EMBARRASSED young Liberal Democrats have scrapped a batch of flyers advocating buying skunk – a super-strength form of cannabis – after an overzealous campaigner distributed them outside an Islington college.
The flyers, named “Lib Dems on Drugs” and perforated to form roaches, used instead of filters when rolling a joint, were dished out to passers-by outside City and Islington College in Goswell Road, on Thursday.
Liberal Youth, the junior branch of the Lib Dem party, said a campaigner trying to start up his own branch took the five-year-old leaflets from the group headquarters in the hope they would attract attention.
The leaflet contains links to websites with a menu of cannabis seeds with names such as Amnesia, Delirium, Madness and Stoned Immaculate.
It asks: “Do you think our politicians should stop wrecking people’s lives just because they use cannabis?”
Islington’s ruling Lib Dem party have distanced themselves from the stunt.
Community safety chief Marisha Ray said: “This had nothing to do with the council or Islington Liberal Democrats, it was just the work of independent campaigners.”
But while Liberal Youth spokesman Adrian Smith supported the softer approach to cannabis, he said he didn’t like the postcards.
He said: “The card is about five years old. Someone came to our office last week asking for some literature. It’s our fault because we still have some of the leaflets and we should have marked that they should not be available for under-18s. We’ve disposed of the rest.”
Det Supt David Miveld, of Islington police, said: “It is the right of any individual to campaign for changes to the law. However, we strongly disagree with the distribution of material which seems to encourage cannabis use and could have a negative influence on young people.”
A spokeswoman for City and Islington College said: “We don’t have a comment on this because it wasn’t on college property.”

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