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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Disabled man fined over use of cannabis
Gazette & Herald, UK
Thursday 29 Jan 2004 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.
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