DISABLED MAN FINED OVER USE
OF CANNABIS
Source: Gazette
& Herald, UK
Pub Date: Thursday, 29 January 2004
URL: http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/archive/2004/01/29/chip_news_local33ZM.html
DISABLED MAN
FINED OVER USE OF CANNABIS
DISABLED Michael
Webb, who suffers from crippling back pain, has vowed to continue using
cannabis, despite his conviction for possessing the banned drug on Monday.
The 44-year-old
twisted his spine in an accident 12 years ago, when he sneezed while carrying a
box as he moved house. The injury sparked a degenerative back condition, which
has caused two of his vertebrae to start crumbling, and sciatica, leaving him
in constant agony.
Webb, of Audley
Road, Chippenham, said he has been prescribed legal drugs to kill the
excruciating pain for more than a decade, but claims it is cannabis that has
given him his life back.
"I totally
rely on it," he said. "It does not take the pain away, but it helps
me cope with it better, and relieves the tension of actually being in pain.
"It's given
me life, but without it I'd be stuck at home. I wouldn't be able to move. The
pain is like having the end of a cigarette held on the back of your spine. The
ache can be so strong that when it's at its worst it can make me vomit.
"My doctors
have supported me, and they'd much rather I took that than prescribed pills,
but they can't prescribe cannabis, and I have been told that I should expect to
be on pills for the rest of my life.
"I don't
deal drugs and I have nothing to hide."
Acting on a tip
off, officers raided Webb's home in November and discovered a 8.7 gram block of
cannabis resin on his living room table.
Webb, who is
registered disabled and relies on Government benefits, pleaded guilty at
Chippenham Magistrates Court on Monday to possession of cannabis.
His lawyer Tim
Hammick assured the court the cannabis was for Webb's own personnel use, and
said his client did not supply drugs.
He told the
court that Webb, who has difficulty walking without the aid of a stick, melts
the drug in butter, which he then puts in his coffee.
Webb, who moved
to Chippenham ten years ago to be close to his son, aged nine, was fined £103.
"The only
way I have of dealing with the pain is by taking cannabis, which is making me a
criminal," he said.
"The pain
can strike at any time. I can't walk great distances because the pain gets to
much. Even walking to the nearest corner shop can be unbearable."
After the
accident Webb, who has a degree in film, television and applied photography,
was in traction for a week and prescribed painkillers and Valium to fight the
pain.
Doctors told him
to wear a surgical corset and Webb initially used
paracetamol and
other over the counter medication to fight the pain, but as it got
progressively worse he turned to his doctors for stronger medication.
He was
prescribed opiates, including dihydrocodeine. He also became addicted to
heroin, which he snorted, smoked and occasionally injected, because it gave him
relief from the pain.
Webb says he has
been clean from heroin for years and now takes a prescribed opiate to combat
the pain, but is desperate to get off the addictive chemical.
"I expect
to end up in court, where I'm sure they will fine me again and again and again,
but if I stopped using cannabis I would be in a very, very painful world,"
he said.
PC Alex Mazurk,
from Chippenham's proactive unit, said: "We appreciate that people use
cannabis for medical purposes, but if they don't have lawful authority to
possess it, it is still an offence. Despite its reclassification today, from class
B to class C, users can still be arrested in certain circumstances."
Alun Buffry,
national co-ordinator for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, which is a registered
political party, said the law should not get involved if the drug is being used
for medicinal purposes.
"In the
past people have pleaded not guilty to possessing cannabis on the grounds it is
a medical necessity and they have won their cases," he said.