A total of seven petitions was handed in on Tynwald Day covering subjects ranging from overseas aid to legalisation of cannabis.

A petition from Douglas resident Gavin Organ calls for a review of cannabis laws relating medicinal and therapeutic use of the drug. He also wants a re-examination of the law on possession of small quantities for personal consumption.

He said an online petition over the last month has so far gained nearly 500 signatures offering support.

’Cannabis for pain relief from chronic conditions, should be made available to all who may benefit from treatment,’ he said.

The petition has been drawn up using campaigning website 38degrees.com and has so far collected 474 signatures.

The message on the site says: ’Cannabis has been proven to have huge medicinal benefits for lots of chronic and terminal conditions.

’The health benefits should outweigh the draconian laws on the Isle of Man. Jersey are doing it. Please sign and let’s not only try to change for medicinal purposes but for possession, and the amount of money saved through prison, legal fees, police time, money and resources.’

Stephen Holmes, who now lives in Wigan, has a petition calling for Tynwald to recognise that the Children and Young Persons Act has been misapplied in the Isle of Man and that the Family Law Act was also misapplied before it.

Mr Holmes said the current law is applied on an adversarial basis pitting each party (often opposing parents) against the other. This, he said, does not work in the best interest of any child at the centre of a family dispute.

’Section one of the act says the interests of the child are paramount,’ he said, ’and that does not seem to be taken into consideration.’

Instead, he feels the court should operate on a more inquisitorial basis in such cases.

An eight-year-long dispute over the legality of developing part of Port St Mary beach formed the basis of a petition presented on behalf of the village community by Port St Mary Commissioners.

The commissioners are objecting to development of part of the beach below the former Bay View Hotel which has been turned into car parking associated with new building work. It is the first time a local authority has used the petitions process.

The petition, unanimously supported by the commissioners, says: ’The general public’s right to enjoy beaches, foreshores, rights of way and other areas that are held on behalf of the Manx nation by the Isle of Man Government is being jeopardised by the government’s failure to protect this right.

’In particular, that as a result of this failure, the community of Port St Mary has been denied free access to a public shore.’

Commissioners chairman Alan Grace said: ’Government is the custodian of public lands, but only on behalf of this nation. They have a duty to preserve our cherished access to beaches and open spaces.

’We, as a board, take no pleasure in mounting this extreme measure to make them honour their responsibilities, but no other community on this island should have its rights overlooked as ours have been.’

A petition by Anne Kelly from Port Erin, who declined to be photographed, calls for more robust measures to deal with complaints by individuals against official bodies and individuals.

’There is a complete lack of checks and balances between the judiciary and the executive,’ she said.

’Complainants are often faced with a massive closing of ranks. For example if you issue a complaint against the police, it’s the police who investigate it. It’s not effective because they are concerned with protecting themselves.’

Laxey resident Chrissie Parkes wants a review of the water rating system which, she says, discriminates unfairly against single occupants in a property because it is assessed on rateable value rather than usage.

’Water meters or a single personal discount would go some way to rectify this aberration. I should not be paying £30 a week for water and nor should any single person. The outcry would be unimaginable were you to pin the price of gas and electricity to the rateable value of a property,’ she said.

Chris Quirk, from Onchan, presented a petition calling for the creation of a Criminal Cases Review Commission which would look at potential miscarriages of justice.

’Our counterparts in the UK have this facility and I feel it should be implemented here too.

’It would sit between the appeal court in the Isle of Man and the Privy Council in England, which is where, as a Crown Dependency, the island’s citizens progress on appeal.’

Patricia Newton, of Laxey, is concerned about conserving the Manx environment.

She feels too much conservation work is left to be done by volunteers and not enough official support is given.

She cites the backlog of buildings waiting approval to be registered and the lack of a full-time government appointed conservation officer. She suggests the government is ’failing in its duty to maintain and protect the historic built environment’.

She suggested there was a conflict between the interests of commerce and conservation and proposed a grading system for registered buildings, according to the level of importance historically and architecturally.

She called on the government also to consider ways, perhaps including tax incentives, to encourage registering of buildings to be seen as a positive rather than a negative act.

Garff MHK Daphne Caine presented the petition on her behalf.

A petition from Cronk Grianagh, Braddan, resident Scott Kelly called for the government to review its overseas aid policy.

Mr Kelly’s petition comes after the government gave £150,000 to support people in Kenya and Yemen.

He says: ’From where and when did the Manx Government get the mandate to donate £150,000 to so-called charity organisations in terrorist-housing countries in Africa and Arabic states? Talk about feeding the hand that’ll stab you in the back given half the chance.’

The Manx government has pledged the money in the light of civil war in Yemen, where food and water shortages have created widespread malnutrition, and impending famine in East Africa which has left 16 million people on the brink of starvation.

Mr Kelly suggests the money would be better spent in the island, perhaps improving and repainting road markings.

He said: ’Manx Government stop justifying ill-spending on useless causes and start considering saving the lives of your own people.

’In short, make sure your own house is in order before splurging on idiotic and wasteful donations to places a lot of Manx have never heard of, and certainly never mandated you to give.’

However Mr Kelly was not at the official handing in during the ceremony. He told the Manx Independent he had earlier handed over a copy of the petition, but was uncertain whether it was officially received.

’It can always be presented next year if necessary,’ he said.