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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Grandmum says she wants to use cannabis to control her pain
Kerry McQueeney Watford Observer
Tuesday 11 Apr 2006 After reading the Croydon Guardian's report on a local doctor reportedly encouraging patients to take the drug, an 81-year-old Croydon grandmum says she wants to turn to cannabis. The elderly woman who does not want to be identified said she is prepared to take extreme measures to relieve her crippling back pain, caused by a long-standing complaint and hip injury. She contacted our newsroom after reading the Croydon Guardian's story about a doctor in the borough who is allegedly prescribing' cannabis to patients with acute and debilitating pain. The woman says she wants to contact a voluntary organisation which cultivates cannabis for medicinal use to get cannabis capsules in place of conventional medicine which, she says, is no longer effective. She said: "I've been hearing for years now that cannabis is an effective pain killer. I've never tried drugs before but I want to try cannabis. "I've had chronic back pain for 31 years and recently I broke my leg near the hip. Mayday Hospital has weaned me off the painkiller dihydracodeine and I'm now taking paracetamol, which doesn't work too well and makes me feel sick. "I'm also taking temazepam to help me sleep, which gets weak over time and very addictive. I'm concerned about getting off that drug too. "I am very concerned that taking this conventional medication over a long period of time will be damaging to my health. "Obviously I know cannabis is illegal but I really feel this would benefit me like it has others. I want to give it a try." Controversy still surrounds the use and classification of cannabis, an illegal class C drug naturally derived from parts of the cannabis plant. Campaigners believe the drug should be decriminalised but medical research suggests a link between its use and mental health problems. There are also concerns cannabis is a gateway drug' which could lead to the use of harder narcotics, such as cocaine and heroin. Cannabis is usually smoked, although others make tea with it or put it in food such as cake. The effects of cannabis are widely thought to be beneficial to sufferers of various medical conditions including cancer, HIV, and glaucoma. Using cannabis to relieve pain is still a criminal offence. You can be arrested for carrying cannabis and the maximum penalty for possession is a two-year sentence, while less serious cases are likely to result in a warning or reprimand.
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