The movement to decriminalise marijuana took to the streets of Hamilton this week after almost four years of dormancy with local advocate Mitchell Watson charging that Premier Jennifer Smith had signed his petition before she became leader.

Premier Smith has refused to respond to the allegation and Mr. Watson has been unable to produce proof, since the petition has gone missing.

Bearing a cardboard placard with the message "PLP change the cannabis law'', Mr. Watson, marching alone, said he was calling on the Government to live up to the petition. He claimed many PLP members had signed it back in 1996 but was unable to recall, apart from the Premier, exactly who.'' He calmly made his protest walking on Reid and Parliament Streets, past the Hamilton Police station, the courts and Parliament. He occasionally shouted "Jah Rastafari'' and conducted his march without Police escort.

Resuming an issue he brought to the forefront back in 1996 when he presented a petition bearing 4,000 signatures to then premier David Saul, Mr. Mitchell said he was committed to keeping up the pressure to make personal marijuana usage legal.

The number of signatures he claimed to have collected, exceeds the number reported by he Royal Gazette at the time and Mr. Watson was unable to produce the petition or even a copy of it.

He explained that through his moving house it had been lost and complained that efforts to secure the original have come up empty.

"I tried everyone, the Governor's office, the Cabinet Office, Government Information, the Archives, but no one seems to know where its gone to,'' he said.

"It had over 7,000 signatures and Jennifer Smith and several of her colleagues when they were the Opposition had signed it, but now Government services can't seem to locate it.'' Admitting that the disappearance of the document has annoyed him, Mr. Watson said that a senior Government official had agreed that the loss of the petition is unusual.

"I was told that they don't usually throw away petitions,'' he said.

"I'm upset that you could give a Government a petition with signatures of a third of the population and that it could go missing. No other petition has gathered so many signatures for a particular issue.'' Disappointment with the PLP Government in not addressing the issue of decriminalising marijuana drove Mr. Watson to take his fight on the road at this stage.

"I will keep up the vigil and will march all this week,'' he said.

"I want to let them know there is a silent constituency out there who are really behind this. Because they don't hear them they have not acted.'' Believing that others are ready and willing to publicly display their displeasure with the current law Mr. Watson said: "We changed the Government.

People in Bermuda have grown up now and can express their views, they are no longer afraid of the boogie man.'' Noting that Britain's anti-drugs coordinator Keith Hellawell this week called for their Police to concentrate on heroin and cocaine and "not get bogged down with dealers in soft drugs'', Mr. Watson said Bermuda should follow suit.

He was careful to differentiate that he is in favour of decriminalising marijuana for personal usage and is not advocating that it be made legal.

"I think the Government could issue licences for people to grow it for themselves, that way the Government would actually get some revenue,'' Mr.

Watson said.

"But the way it is now it's a racist law. It only affects black men the other half never get caught. If it was an equal law then I would have no problem.

"But as it stands they are just continuously locking up these black guys for possession of small amounts.''