LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British cannabis campaigner, who changed his name by deed poll to Free R Cannabis was jailed for two months on Friday for auctioning the drug at a demonstration. Mr. Cannabis jailed -- for auctioning cannabis
Cannabis, 33, previously known as Robert Christopher, openly sold the drug using a microphone in London's Hyde Park at a march to press for the drug's legalization in September 2001.
"You are not prepared to tolerate any contrary opinion," recorder John Bevan told him.
"I suspect your mind is closed to any view other than your own," Bevan added, saying he realized the judgment turned Cannabis into a martyr for his cause. Cannabis has devoted his life to campaigning for the legalization of the drug after his mother died of multiple sclerosis. He says cannabis would have prolonged her life and eased her pain.
"The cannabis plant could have saved my mother's life. I will continue to my dying day to try to get it legalized. I spend all my money on this," Cannabis, who is the organizer of the Cannabis Hemp Information Club, said in court.
He has several previous convictions for possessing and supplying the drug dating back to the mid 1990s.
