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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Arrested after using cannabis 'for pain'
Western Gazette Thursday 04 Jun 2009 lodging a complaint about his treatment when his home was raided by police at the weekend. Officers found 34 cannabis plants at the home of Jim Starr, who said he cultivates it to sooth his pain from chronic back and joint conditions, neurological problems and arthritis. Mr Starr, aged 34, who is known as Pinky and lives with his wife and children near Dorchester, said he was mistreated by police after he was arrested at his home on Saturday evening and taken to Weymouth Police Station. He claims he was not allowed to take his wheelchair, was stopped from taking his usual dose of medication, had requests to have his carer help with a strip search denied and that his repeated calls for help after a fall went unheeded. He said: "Cannabis is the only drug that helps me. I have full medical backing for its use. The pain I suffer is so intense it feels like I'm dying." Cannabis can tone this pain down to a reasonable level. "How can I be a criminal for using a drug that god put on this earth for people like me to use for medicinal reasons" The police, when in my house, saw the proof I had medicinal reasons to use the drug but they didn't want to discuss it at all. I have been campaigning for the right to use medicinal cannabis legally for two years and organising protests. "Some police don't want to arrest us but others do. It's a postcode lottery whether you get arrested for using medicinal cannabis or not." Mr Starr said his GP has endorsed his use of cannabis but he cannot afford a legal spray, which costs £250 a time. He said he was left shaken at the way he was treated during and after his arrest.; He claimed he was forced to use walking sticks after police said they could not take his wheelchair in the police car. While he was in a cell, he fell, and claims his calls for help went unanswered for a long time. He said "I sat waiting for my lawyer to arrive until I had to go to the toilet. As I got up, I slipped and fell hard. "I started calling out for help. No-one came after the first four or five calls so I started counting how many times I had cried out. "I called out 33 times and no-one came. I started screaming, and banging my arm against the wall to distract me from the pain in my body. "A female officer opened the hatch and asked me what my problem was. I told her I was severely disabled and no-one was coming to help. She looked shocked, apologised and said she hadn't known because they had changed shifts and hadn't been told." Mr Starr, who has been released on police bail, is now pursuing a formal compliant against Weymouth police. He intends to deny any charges if they are brought. When he returns to the police station to answer questions later this month, he intends to wear an orange jumpsuit of the kind worn by inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. "If they want to treat me like a criminal, I may as well dress like one," he said. Duty Inspector for Weymouth Police Station Robert Chalkley said: "I haven't received a complaint yet but when it is received it will go to our professional standards department. It's duty is to fully investigate people's concerns. Even after the matter has gone to professional standards, we may not be able to make any comment as it will be subject to sub judice. That means that any criminal investigation takes priority over following up a complaint "We make sure that everybody?s complaints are listened to and, if there are matters which can be learned from, we will learn from them. We welcome complaints." Email the Editor: http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/emaileditor.html *Write to us at*: Western Gazette, Sherborne Road, Yeovil, BA21 4YA Alternatively, *phone* the newsdesk on: 01935 700500 or newsdesk@westgaz.co.uk
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