I’d been convicted of two counts of importation of cannabis and sentenced to two six month sentences concurrently. Since leaving England in 1975 I’d lived in a ganga culture in the Caribbean followed by British Columbia, Canada and then the Big Island of Hawaii. My home district was populated mostly by native homesteaders, hippies, surfers and ‘back to the landers’ and in 1986 was described by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as the epicentre for marijuana/cannabis cultivation in the U.S.A. It was from there that I had casually mailed myself the two packages with which I was caught and for which I was convicted in the U.K. 

CURSE OF OUR AGE

Lady luck didn’t shine on me today

If she had I’d be happily flying  away 

Judge Baker said “drugs are the curse of our age 

Cannabis is illegal and a criminal outrage.” 

To protect society he had to lock me inside 

He believes in his tales but the truth he can’t hide 

How the British Medical Association have spoken out 

Saying those at most risk are the smoker and the lager lout 

The government’s misguided and its policies aren’t right 

Tobacco and alcohol are the evils we should fight

While 100,000 puffers die ahead of their time 

7,000 or more go from spirits, beer and wine 

Whilst £400 million fights illegal drug users 

It’s a victimless crime where users become losers 

Official propaganda makes cannabis the curse 

While cancer sticks and booze are infinitely worse.

Dear Mr Prison Warden

Sir, yesterday my request to the library for medical journals or reference books containing reports on the medicinal qualities of cannabis were denied. I was told this was on your instructions and not to ask you to reconsider your decision. 

Sir, I send this letter respectfully asking that you will understand the context of my request since several officers seem to have the wrong impression about my motivation for obtaining these materials. 

Sir, I have been sentenced for importation of cannabis and on the advice of my lawyers I’m preparing a statement which will form part of my submission to the Court of Appeal. It was for this reason that I requested literature which is commonly available to the general public through the library service. It has nothing whatsoever to do with any illegal activities relating to drugs.

Sir, I can only guess your reasons for refusing my request and assume it was based upon the fact that cannabis is an illegal substance in the U.K. Perhaps you believe drug use might be encouraged should inmates here be exposed to literature on the subject. I find this viewpoint extremely inconsistent with the fact that daily newspapers, magazines, TV shows and many videos that are freely and continuously available throughout this prison glorifying crimes of all kinds including murder, rape, burglary, prostitution and assaults on police officers. Are these considered harmless while a book about medicinal uses of cannabis is dangerous? 

Sir, Queen Victoria was a regular user of cannabis tincture as a relief from period pains. In the United States and many other countries cannabis is medically prescribed as a cure for glaucoma and asthma and also used to control the unpleasant side-effects of chemotherapy. I feel it is unfortunate that information such as this should be denied public access even in prison whilst extreme cops and robbers violence is condoned. 

Yours sincerely,   Graham Ellis

DOING THE BIRD

Some birds don’t fly, 

Some men don’t sing, 

Brooding alone there’s no rest on this wing, 

When pain hits them hard crying’s absurd, 

There’s no place for squawking when you’re doing the bird.

There’s no wonder that prisoners look for any way they can to numb the pain. Armley Prison has had the highest level of recorded drug use among prisoners in England and Wales with about a third of inmates failing drugs tests and 20% reported developing a drug problem in jail. During the three weeks I spent there every single night someone in my cell smoked cannabis. I’m not sure about other substances that may have used.

My last two days in prison were spent in a class preparing us for the outside world. When asked what was next for me I  said I was heading to Amsterdam where marijuana is legal. Everyone laughed exclaiming how easy it is to get it in the jail.  This prompted me to ask the elderly Captain running the class how come that for almost all of my 90 day sentence someone was smoking pot in my cell. He said the staff all knew but also knew that pot was calming and people getting high never caused trouble unlike illicitly produced hooch (alcohol) which brought violence.

PRISON SAFETY

As a category B prison Armley is used for long term adult prisoners, short term prisoners awaiting relocation and prisoners held on remand awaiting a court appearance.  Inspectors of Armley Prison have branded it “violent, unsafe and severely overcrowded” It has developed the sad reputation of continuing to be a hanging prison due to the growing list of suicides by young men held on remand. Seven young men took their lives in the same year I was held in Armley and many more have done so since then.  

You can never actually feel safe in prison, you’re in a very volatile environment, you’re surrounded by very dangerous people – it’s a dangerous place – scary!

SEVENTEEN

He wrote, “goodbye mother I’ll see you in heaven.” 

The noose pulled tight, he was number seven, 

Unconvicted he hadn’t even been tried, 

Just seventeen on the day he died.

FORGOTTEN

Sent down for infinity, 

Breaking rocks not rules, 

Pursuing ancient principles, 

Long forgotten by the fools.

ANOTHER DAY IN ARMLEY

7.30 Wake Up

8.00 Doors open, slop out buckets, carry breakfast to your cell

8.10 Lock up

11.00 Exercise around yard

12.00 Bring lunch to your cell

12.10 Lock Up

4.30 Bring tea to your cell

6.00 Slop out bucket

6.10 Lock Up

8.00 Supper snack delivered to your cell

9.30 Lights out

During my stay in 1988 we were confined to our cells for 23 hours a day – with 30 allotted minutes for exercise and occasionally a 15-20 minutes shower. At one lunchtime I met a fellow juggler and he gave me a couple of oranges which with my apple produced an impromptu show till they bit the dust on the concrete floor. 

1988

In eighty eight,

The convicts fate, 

Won’t get you through the Golden Gate, 

But locked in nick they claim you’re safe and well, 

Away from societies living hell. 

Outside the rapes and crimes don’t cease, 

While society suffers from a life of fear, 

Behind these bars we rest in peace, 

Top dog villains aren’t sent down here. 

The wars go on, the poor are dying, 

Generals and presidents continue lying, 

Who is to blame for the state we’re in? 

And when will justice really begin?

One day, without any notice, I was told to pack up my ‘personal’s’ and was escorted down to the administration centre. After hours of waiting locked, in a windowless brick cell, along with three chain smoking inmates we were all loaded into a paddy wagon and driven to our new ‘surprise’ home.