NURSES and bank workers were among the cannabis users who picnicked at Corporation Park, Blackburn, as part of a campaign to legalise the drug.

Organiser David Wilson, of Bolton Road, Ewood, said he had decided to campaign for a change in the law after being fined £1,000 for possessing a small amount of cannabis last year.

He said: "If we want to brew our own wine, we can do. Why can't we grow our own cannabis?

"People can smoke cigars or drink a whole bottle of whisky and no-one complains, why can't we go out and have a spliff?

"It's a plant, God has put it there for us."

A Clitheroe bank worker, who did not wish to be named, attended the event disguised in a joke shop wig and dark glasses to avoid being recognised and asked passers-by to sign a petition to de-criminalise the drug.

She said she would be happier for her children to use marijuana when they were over 16 than to drink alcohol.

She said: "Alcohol is very addictive and drinkers can become violent and end up fighting, but cannabis doesn't do that. You won't see any stoned people fighting here today." Ex-nurse Mary Stevenson, of Montague Close, Blackburn, said she began using the drug six years ago to combat the pain of arthritis as well as for pleasure. She said: "I prefer to have a joint than a drink, especially in the winter, as it relieves the stress and the pain of arthritis, it just relaxes everything." Mrs Stevenson helped sell leaflets at the event on Saturday with agency nurse Patricia Catlow, of Fernhurst Street, Ewood, who also uses the drug.

She said: "You can prescribe heroin to relieve pain but not cannabis even though it doesn't do you any harm.

"There's a small amount of nicotine in a joint but it doesn't affect you as much as a normal cigarette."

David Wilson said he would like to thank Blackburn police for the way they had handled the event.

He said: "We were worried they would be heavy-handed but they have been superb."

Organisers said they collected about 200 signatures on a petition to make cannabis legal.

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