A eulogy by Derek Williams
Jack was born on January 15th 1944 and was brought up alongside his brother in their house near Magdalen Street in Norwich. He became a very loving dad and a stepdad over the years, in later years, he also became a loving granddad and great grandad. Jack was avid collector of things like Stamps, medals, coins and even Dinky Toys.
At the age of about 21, through his use of cannabis, Jack discovered Jesus. Although he was never a churchgoer, he considered himself a Christian for the rest of his life and deeply believed in the God given right to use the herb.
During his career Jack was a coal merchant, after which he ran two successful businesses, using his skills as a carpenter in Girling and Mills and Just Doors. It was back in 1984, when Tina started working for him, they had a good working relationship which eventually grew into a romantic one and they have been happily together ever since.
In addition to work, probably Jack’s greatest achievement was being the founder member of the Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International Association – the CLCIA – back in the early 90s. Back then the original Legalise Cannabis Campaign had run out of steam and was pretty much dormant so Jack and others decided to breath life back into the campaign. This of course was before the internet in the days of mail-outs and printed leaflets, So Jack started work in building a membership, a much harder task than it is now.
The idea of standing a candidate in a general election had been discussed for some time, 1992 was missed but the idea remained.
His yard near Anglia Square, a well-known social centre where anyone could pop in for a cup of tea and, er, have a natter, became the HQ of the CLCIA. Jacks Yard was a real institution in the city of Norwich which is sadly missed by many. It was about this time our paths crossed and I would frequently spend time down the yard.
In 1995 the internet arrived and with it the UKCIA site, which had been set up as a last gasp of the original Legalise Cannabis Campaign in the hope someone could keep the campaign alive. With that came a really active e-mailing list known as UKCIA-l and with that a whole series of complicated debates were unleashed which would run for many years.
Around that time I had taken it on myself to start lobbying the local drugs advice agency which had recently been set up. I had many long debates with them over the issue of cannabis use and health and as a result of that I became a born again non-tobacco smoker, which went down like a lead balloon with everyone else down the yard of course who regarded rolling joints as an important part of the ritual. But none of this phased Jack.
Through all the divisions that followed – the idea of not smoking tobacco with cannabis for one, but also what legalisation was really about, what sort of outcome did we want to see and all the rest of it, Jack remained true to his beliefs of wanting the herb to be free. Yet he tolerated and even encouraged everyone to develop their version of what a cannabis law reform campaign should be.
When the 1997 election came around the Yard became the election office for Howard Marks who stood under the banner of the Legalise Cannabis Party. In the event not as successful as some of us had expected, but it set the scene for what was to come next.
Through all this time Jack and Tina would take the CLCIA stall to festivals and events around the country, leading to meetings with other groups such as the Exodus collective, the Green Party Drug Group and the Million Marijuana March. The Independent on Sunday picked up on the campaign and in 1997 organised a march in London which was cancelled due to the death of Princes Di, but finally came about in 1998. This was a one-off, but it led to an annual cannabis demo in South London.
After that, the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, a registered political party, came into being in 1999. The LCA went on to field candidates in local elections up and down the country for several years. The LCA eventually morphed into CLEAR Cannabis Law Reform
Through a combination of the campaign and his Christianity, towards the end of the 90s Jack founded his own religion- the Universal Church of the Holy and Sacred Herb, Known as UCHASH. This was launched with a celebration of cannabis in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral and made a splash locally.
Sadly, after Tina’s son John passed away Jack’s health started to deteriorate, and Tina had been his carer ever since. Jack was so grateful for everything that Tina did for him, right up to the very end.
Jack slipped away very peacefully in his sleep on 21st November 2023 after along illness, he was buried in the Norwich ceremony on January 15th, 2024 on what would have been his 80th birthday.