//UPGRADEmag emergency edition  - pass this on -

London

SATURDAY MAY 5
 FIRST the not so good news… 
The London end of the annual global Legalise Cannabis Festival has had to be positioned and the organisers have asked us to spread the word to the many thousands who had planned on being there.
The reason given by Lambeth council is that the planned site, Brockwell Park in South London, is so waterlogged by recent rains that any festival held on the land would create a quagmire and destroy the park.

Though hardened conspiracy theorists among us may question such an excuse, there are 2 strong reasons for believing it. 

1.      The UK has certainly suffered the wettest month for a century. 
2.      The head of policing in Lambeth has recently been much reported in the media for becoming the first chief superintendent in Britain to officially instruct his officers not to bust for possession of cannabis.  So he's hardly likely to have tried to stop the Festival!

SATURDAY MAY 5. 
 So, SECOND, the good news…     
This enlightened head of policing in Lambeth, Commander Brian Paddick, has agreed to speak in the Drugs Debate at the Den of Enlightenment club launch.  So interrogate him yourself!  He, along with Shane Collins of the Green Party Drug Group and main organiser of the Festival, will be talking in on the theme:

"YOUNG LIVES RUINED BY DRUGS WARS"