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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis grandmother to fight on
Guardian Unlimited
Wednesday 07 Mar 2007 A grandmother who "self medicates" with cannabis to ease her depression has vowed to continue to use the drug in defiance of a judge's jail warning. Patricia Tabram, 68, walked free from court despite a jury taking only 15 minutes to convict her of growing and possessing cannabis, but she was ordered to carry out 250 hours community service and pay £1,000 costs. It was her second drug conviction after she was given a suspended jail sentence for supplying cannabis in curries, casseroles and cakes which she distributed to other elderly and infirm people near her bungalow, in Humshaugh, Northumberland. Police and the Crown Prosecution Service backed the decision to take her to court and she was warned she will be imprisoned if she continues to flout the law. But Tabram said: "I am still going to medicate with cannabis. This court is not fit for purpose and I am taking up an appeal and putting in a complaint about the fact I was not allowed to have a defence. The law and justice do not exist in this country any more." Flanked by well-wishers, said she would continue the fight and was prepared to go to jail. Carlisle Crown Court heard she used the drug to fight the depression she has suffered since 1975 when she discovered her 14-year-old son dead in his bed. She said that adding cannabis to a cup of hot chocolate gave her five hours without pain. "Five hours - that is better than relief you get from morphine," she said. Judge Barbara Forrester told the grey-haired pensioner she accepted that Tabram was only growing the drug for her personal use. Tabram never denied having the drug, but wanted the jury to acquit her because of her health needs. The judge told the jurors that medical necessity was no defence. She had been given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years in April 2005. But only five months later, officers acting on a tip-off raided her home and found four cannabis plants growing in her wardrobe. The judge said on Wednesday: "I am satisfied it is not necessary to impose a custodial sentence, either immediate or suspended." But she reminded the defendant: "Possession, cultivation or supplying cannabis, or being concerned with any of those actions, except where authorised, is a criminal offence which may lead to imprisonment." The mother-of-three is a tenant of Milecastle Housing, which said it has had several meetings with her about breaching her tenancy agreement. A spokesman for the organisation said a meeting would be held after the court case to decide whether she should be evicted. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6464177,00.html -- LCA on Myspace; http://www.myspace.com/cannabis_people_uk
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