Sunday, January 8, 2012 - Peter Reynolds

An Apology From Peter Reynolds

I have already made this apology on many forums, Facebook pages and individual messages.

I am extremely sorry if any of the articles on my personal website or any comments I have made at any time have offended anyone. The articles in question were written at least two years ago and were intended to be provocative and controversial. Had I known that one day I would be elected a leader of a political party I would have chosen my words much more carefully.

I am neither homophobic nor racist. I have fought against prejudice and for individual liberty all my life. Out of nearly 500 articles on my personal website, people with ulterior motives have taken two or three sentences and built an hysterical hate campaign around them and thrown in a few blatant lies and forgeries for good measure. Although the CLEAR executive committee has urged me to keep my personal website up, I have decided it has become too much of a distraction so I have taken it offline.

CLEAR is taking the cannabis issue into the mainstream. We have to stop criminalising millions of people, stop gifting billions to organised crime that could be building hospitals and roads and stop preventing sick and disabled people having access to the medicine that they need.

Once again, I am very sorry for any offence caused to anyone.

The truth about cannabis is CLEAR!

Please, may I have an hour off to walk my dogs now?

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El_Gato_Fortunado

Grown ups can accept that we can disagree on many many things, I dont see any reason for you to say sorry for anything Peter, I have friends across the entire political spectrum almost and when we disagree we remain respectful because there are so many other things we do have common ground with.

Getting MMJ legalised is a priority and you and the team are doing the best job ever know in the cannabis movement…. so I for one will not accept an apology that is certainly not needed, because if we all agree the sick should be able to use what is the most effective medicine on the planet ASAP then who cares what was said blah blah blooody blah.. the cause is a noble one and its one that’s winnable and one which you lot especially you peter, have brought hope to lots and lots of MMJ users…

Anyone would think you was Eric The Bloodaxe ffs… you have more to be proud of during this last year, hold onto that…

you get things done peter, couldnt give a toss if you had a blow up maggie doll, would be worried if you had a blow up gordon brown one though LMAO… come on mucker… dig deep… you make a lot of sick people proud with the tremendous effort you put in.

Keep up the good work…
Chris Carman

Im with you, well said. I think for anyone to find anything you write offensive quite hard to believe in the first place, good luck and keep up the good work!

Chris
a quiet man

you brought the cannabis issue and this group to my attention you also helped me see what a scam the drug laws are so you have done a great job. the old L,C,A never caught my attention sorry the old hippy image just did not work , I fully accept this apology and i see no reason to draw blood. I hope those that have been most vocal against you will man up and accept this and get back on topic, We all will have different likes and dislikes about the clear plan and lets be honest this is only a starting point if and when it ever makes it to law then every word will be argued over. If others want to make a different plan thats what they can do when the debate has started right now all of us need to stand together and demand the debate. and those that dont accept this apology will never be happy so forget them and see them as pro hos because any distraction from the issue is only playing into that side of the debate stick at it peter and dont let the bastards get you down you got my support
Christopher

Although I didn’t agree with everything you wrote, there was a lot on your blog I agreed with, especially on the subject of reforming the cannabis laws in the UK.

I was never offended by anything you wrote, for sure, the sentences in question were not to my liking, but reading the overall blog and taking things into perspective, I can see the recent allegations against you were ludicrous and what you wrote had been very much taken out of context.
MR_Bimble

Anything you have written in your blog is nowhere as offensive as most of the articles written by Peter Hitchins.

It almost feels as if some people are thring to bring down the anti-prohibitionist people to keep the status quo…
Auto278615

How on earth can you apologise for offending people and claim it is all lies and forgeries
at the same time?,years ago is it?, your “homosexuality is a perversion” statement is less than a week old, forgive me if I doubt your sincerity when you use the fake apology
to reinforce the spin that you are subject to a conspiracy with no substance, if there is no substance what are you sorry for?, I have not seen your apology on the UK420
where you most definitely offended many, if you have nothing to hide why is your blog
privatised again?.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=547137030 Barista Maestro

I am extremely disappointed that your personal websites are offline, I have used many of your sentences as a reference and enjoyed reading many article you have written. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you Peter for all the work you have done so far and I am sure the best is yet to come, so good luck and stay strong.
Joe90

If any of you want to know where all the attack on the Clear work to fight prohibition are coming from then check out alun buffrys’ website on blogspot.

alunbuffry.blogspot.com

Don’t forget to leave some comments about your thoughts on how aluns efforts are affecting the cause.
Guest

So Islam IS evil?
Gay people ARE perverts?
Placing the name Israel under a Nazi swastika and suggesting that our army sort’s them out should go ahead straight away should it?Looks like the answer is very CLEAR.Unless you are gay, Jewish or a muslim!
Anon

How can they seriously have been upset about shutting down an organisation with only 70 members? I had never heard of the LCA, but I had heard about CLEAR before it even started, and I am a person who spends a lot of time on the internet looking for such organisations.
http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

What a surprise to get a comment like that from someone hiding behind an alias!

I have apologised unreservedly for any offence I have caused to anyone. Separately from that is the matter of Hugh Robertson/Wark/Green from UK420 who has taken some of my articles and edited them, deleting and adding words and phrases in what amounts to multiple criminal offences of forgery and harassment.

Although there are many decent people on UK420, it is also a hotbed of paranoid, abusive trolls who are exactly what the people of Britain are frightened about when it comes to cannabis. I suggest you go back there.
Joe90

Can’t you prohibitionists do better than that ?

You cant fight Clears fight against prohibition with logical argument so instead you throw personal attacks against its leaders.

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” Mahatma GandhiDon’t let them get you down Peter !
Auto278615

Aye Mr Bimble we all just love the prospect of being jailed for possessing a plant, to suggest as many of you have that opponents of xenophobia and corruption
are doing so because of people are jealous of PRs imagined success in cannabis activism
is as lame as the above apology, or drug dealers! lol I wonder where all of you got your cannabis from if not from those evil dealers, without those dealers you would never have
smoked cannabis and therefore never started campaigning for it, so fucking evil those bastards that provide the smoke you are fighting for, passing a joint is classed as supply
so you are all “drug dealers” for a cannabis campaigner and his supporters to use
drug use as a stick to beat other users is beyond hypocrisy and into the realms of
hysterical delusional nonsense and for what to stand up for an idiot whose ego and imagined superiority prevents him from having any insight into his offensiveness or being capable of self censorship,

“Had I known that one day I would be elected a leader of a political party I would have chosen my words much more carefully.”

Why not be honest for once in your life Peter, you have been caught out being an institutionalised racist bigot, xenophobe and liar with almost every post, your accusations of forgery of screen shots of your pages is pathetic, if they are so easy to forge why are there not hundreds of them?, if all the accusations against you are false what are you apologising for?, if you were any more transparent you would be invisible.
Phuxake

Thank you for apologising, I’m sure that as you’ve done the mature thing and apologised for any offence taken, many others will do the mature thing and accept your apology so we can now move on and put this behind us.

We can now all work together as we all have the same goal. Let’s fight against those that seek to imprison us and punish us for simply living and exercising our rights to live in stead of fighting against each other.

2012 will be the year for change, let’s make it happen.
http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

Alun has, I’m afraid, become a very sad, bitter man. Nearly a year ago, I offered him the chairmanship of the party on two or three occasions. In fact, I told him he could design his own role. Now that his true colors have been revealed I am just very glad he didn’t accept.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shroom-View/100001789345832 Shroom View

While we are all with you in general, you seem to miss the fact that some of us need aliases. I am in a real position to pressure the parts of the gov from the in inside. If I revealed my name I would be fired. Are you going to give me a job then? You guys just don’t get the alias thing . Please, [please have a good look at the
http://my.nameis.me/ website (note cannabis users are not mentioned) but there are very, very real reasons why people would not want to put their own name to an account. This doesn’t meant they wouldn’t vote for you in an election though.
Cshaws

Shroom – I know Peter and Clear fully understand the requirement for aliases in this arena and the current environment. A lot of people are in a very tricky situation and this is fully understood. What Peter can’t accept, and neither can I or any other reasonable person, is people sniping and making false allegations from the cover of an alias. This is pure cowardice – I’m with Peter on that one.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shroom-View/100001789345832 Shroom View

Yeah, I have sympathy with the allegations stuff but frankly watch what you write on the internet. A lot of it is not out of context. And as to people sniping, well I do a podcast, hardly politics but it all goes with the territory. If he understands the alias thing then why is this in this profile?
“I intend to start editing my friends list through 2012. I won’t be adding any new friends with false names unless I know who they really are. I’ll also be gradually shedding people who I don’t really know and who have an obviously false name.”This is just bad social media management and it is related to people wanting to have a go. The should be a clear group on FB if not one already. That’s what groups are for. Then the PR account can have whoever he wants. If not wanted they are directed to the group which is moderated. I remember the LCC and I a am a member of CLAER, I have also briefly met Peter. I feel sorry that he is not in the position he is in. If you don’t want people commenting under an anon that can be removed from the Disqus option in the comments section. If CLEAR left the option to comment as Anon then you can’t very well complain when people use it can you? Not When you can take it out.As to the people who have posted things from his blog, taking the blog down is a really bad idea becuse now everytime it comes up you have to say “well that was out of context but I can’t show you it because we took it down”. Weakens the argument, makes people think there is something to hide where there is not. It’s all round bad media management strategy. And if CLEAR really wants to be taken seriously then it should sort that right out from now on.P.S. as an aside, I have multiple spinal fractures and neuropathic pain. Cannabist stops the pain Pharma hasn’t a clue. I WANT to see cannabis available. I am on your side. I just feel we have all lost ground here.
Jordan Docker

Don’t listen to the trolls Peter, I think you are the most perfect man for the role of leadership of the cannabis campaign in Britain that I have seen. For me at least, you come across as an intellectual thinker who is relatable to by nearly anyone. As a younger teenager, I looked at the LCA with pity- their conduct and crude slogans & emblems made me feel too embarrassed to be associated with them. CLEAR has evolved from the LCA in exactly the way I hoped, and I will continue to support this campaign for the foreseeable future.

well done Peter.

you’re a good leader and one I hope will stick around for some time.
PuffPastryHangman

You are still going down m*****f****er. Apologise and whine and b***h and cry, wipe your snotty f****ng pig nose up your sleeve all you want.

You are marked for life c**t.

(Edited for foul language)
Qwerty

Sigh !

Is this really the most intellectual comment you could come up with.
http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

I decided to leave this one up with suitable editing. There have been many of these on this site as well as on my personal site and on Facebook
Psmith67

All this infighting and bickering needs to stop, at the moment we all (including 420) look like the last conservative party, when it went down in flames not to recover for over a decade. We all make mistakes and he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Your forgiven not that i have ever seen you do anything wrong, now lets get back to business Pronto
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dan-Ford/1450969824 Dan Ford

I used to enjoy reading your blog Peter, weather or not I agreed with what you were saying it was always asking pertinent questions and made me think. I did not comment very often, but when I made a comment either supporting or possibly questioning some point in the post I found you open minded and willing to engage in debate. I am sorry to see the blog go but fully understand your reasons for removing it. I do hope that we are all able to patch up our differences as “united we stand, divided we fall” and we have built up momentum now and need to keep the ball rolling.
http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

Psmith, I’m in the thick of it, seven days a week and I have been right throughout this. It isn’t over yet but I am absolutely confident. The wind is subsiding and I can see sunlight on the horizon.
Qwerty

I know it sounds like a rather lame conspiracy theory, and anti-prohibitionists do tend to love these, but consider this …

For many years the LCA limped along, not actually acheiving anything, but somehow managing to make just enough noise so that the prohibitionists knew about them, whilst at the time acting in a way that these same prohibitionists were able to poke fun at them.

Isn’t it strange that things have taken off so well when Peter comes along and alters the direction the LCA was heading in ? If bringing about change is really as difficult as the LCA made out, then not even Peter and the current exec team should be good enough to see the progress of late! It is almost as if someone or something was deliberately holding the LCA back. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the teams abilities, but what Clear have achieved in such a short time, compared to what the LCA achieved over many years almost seems unbelievable.)

Isn’t it strange that policies that are likely to win over the general public (non cannabis users) such as promoting medical use, or taxing sales for leisure use, and purchasing licences for home growing, have all been fought so strongly by some supposed ‘LCA’ anti-prohibitionists?

Change in Cannabis law worldwide has been seen by first promoting medical use (California et al), followed by promoting taxed and regulated sales (use google to search for Prop 19, and the various Cannabis legalisation measures due to be voted on in states in the USA), yet the stance of those attacking Peter is that this is not acceptable to them, instead insiting on a policy that anyone serious about change will know to be unacceptable to the general public. Very Puzzling !

Isn’t it strange that when Clear suddenly starts to make some progress that attacks appear on the leadership and exec team that were the driving force behind this success?

This surely has to be something more than pure jealousy.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?
Steve

Of course it is more than jealously, there is a lot going on here.

There is this bunch who have broken away from another bunch and left behind some issues. Having done that they set about making a larger bunch so they can go and play in The Big Boys Playground and the Big Boys play with a much harder ball.

For us these are “interesting times.”

Our cause is good and the time is right. Enjoy.
Hannah

Any apology that ends in ‘can I walk my dogs now?’ sounds forced to me and not genuine.I think the wind will keep blowing!Oh and I’m reposting my husbands comment on Sanj’s resignation ‘Shame on you Peter Reynolds.I’m a medical user and you don’t represent me!
C Lucky74

now you going to apologise for apologising Peter? told you, you have nothing to apologise for, opinions we all have them and those we disagree with with try to change through civilised debate, rumour has it that it has been known to alter and change ones once held opinion either way. I recall saying to you Peter that if your’e pissing off a few, then you must be doing something right.. stay united in the cause, feck da petty squabbling brigrade, they are not worth anyones consideration and I believe this has backfired and perhaps may bring more people to clear-uk, this sort of behaviour usually does back fire and the perpetrators revealed for their true colours.

BIG UP DA CLEARITES.
Anonymous

This sort of infighting has disrupted the cannabis campaign for over 10 years afaik, and the only thing it ever does is make the whole campaign look bad.
This fact was once known to the people now fighting, but they must feel it doesnt apply to them any more.
Peter has done an excellent job as the leader of Clear and this is what I find most important.
I think he should leave his blog up, but can understand why he wants to try to prevent any possible further distraction. We need to focus our energies on fighting prohibition.
Anonymous

What’s your role in the party again Janice; are you the moderator today?
Guest

In Which case it seems strange you would remove the orginals. Luckily google has it cashed so we can all see who is telling the truth.
Fake

you just know that anyone posting bad things here are from uk420
martyn

stupid is as stupid does ,forest
Dominic John aka Dominic John

Wow, is that all you’ve got to say you big Puff!! One day you will realise what Peter has done for every cannabis user in the UK.

“you are marked for life C**T” how very grown up!!

Keep up all the good work your doing Peter.

An Apology From Peter Reynolds

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