The war on drugs cost grandmother Ingrid Waters the chance to say a proper goodbye to her dying husband.

She was jailed for dealing in cannabis and the day after she was released from jail, her husband died from liver cancer.

She is now aged 56, and her biggest regret about her first and only criminal conviction is that she lost the chance to care for someone she was so close to. Mrs Waters, from Norwich, was jailed after being caught in 1989 with two ounces of cannabis, which she used to share with friends. She still smokes the "soft drug" 40 years after first trying it when she lived in Swansea.

The court sentenced her to 15 months imprisonment but the judge suspended the bulk of her term.

Mrs Waters had just become a grandmother for the first time when she served two weeks in Holloway prison.

"I was absolutely terrified, because I had not met people from the criminal fraternity before. Because I was that little bit older they treated me as a little bit of a joke. They called me the old hippie."

Neighbours on the other side of the street had told police Mrs Waters was dealing on her kitchen table. "I said I was dealing cards for a bridge game for three other people."

Mrs Waters has raised four children who went on to become a manager for British Telecom, a PhD student in microbiology, a carpenter and an employment service worker.

She believes the law must be altered: "Its outrageous that there's no change in the law. I do smoke on a regular basis. I feel it's better than taking chemicals such as valium."