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UK: One-third of Stokies want cannabis legalised (and here's 10 'ill' criminals who claimed to have a medical reason for using the drug) Hayley Parker StokeOnTrent Live Saturday 29 Jun 2019 More than one-third of people living in Stoke-on-Trent believe cannabis legalisation would lead to less of a burden on the NHS. A new survey has revealed that other benefits of action to take away the illegality would include an increase in tax revenues and less alcohol related problems. It also emerged from the study that 75% of people in Stoke-on-Trent are not aware medical marijuana is legal. And that three-quarters of those surveyed think that the war on drugs has failed. It comes as a government-tasked commission has advised France to legalise cannabis to ‘take back control’ of the black market. It has described prohibition over the Channel as an abject ‘failure’ Two experts for the economic analysis council, or CAE, an influential advisory body to the prime minister, have urged the government to end a blanket ban of the recreational drug. The survey in the UK was carried out against the backdrop of recent studies in America which show that the amount of booze consumed by alcoholics reduces if they are prescribed medical marijuana. The 10 men who told the courts they had a medical reason for using cannabis Robert Clowes Fifty-eight-year-old Robert Clowes grew cannabis in his home for medicinal purposes. Officers visited the defendant’s address after receiving a tip-off and they discovered seven cannabis plants and about two kilograms of the drug. Clowes, of Haddon Lane, Chapel Chorlton, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and possession of cannabis. His pleas were on a basis he grew the cannabis for medicinal purposes and he supplied to his friends socially and not for financial gain. He was handed a 12-month community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days and 120 hours unpaid work at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. Benjamin Stevens Motorist Motorist Benjamin Stevens failed a roadside drug test - after spending years using an e-cigarette containing cannabis oil. The 33-year-old - who has been using cannabidiol or CBD oil as a form of pain relief - was pulled over by police in Ryecroft Road in Norton. Officers conducted a drug test and samples revealed Stevens had 7mgms of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, in his system - the legal limit is 2mgms. Stevens, of Marney Walk, Burslem, pleaded guilty to driving while over the drug-driving limit at North Staffordshire Justice Centre failed a roadside drug test - after spending years using an e-cigarette containing cannabis oil. Geoffrey Forrester Police busted Geoffrey Forrester’s ‘sophisticated’ cannabis factory after an officer noticed a powerful odour coming from his house. Officers discovered 18 plants with a street value of nearly £19,000 after carrying out a search on the home on Tunstall’s Parsonage Street. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Forrester, now of Dartmouth Street, Burslem, claimed to suffer with a number of conditions, including sciatica and lung disease, which impacted on his health. Sixty-year-old Forrester - who has 35 previous convictions - was jailed after pleading guilty to abstracting electricity and the cultivation of cannabis. Judge Dean Kershaw sentenced Forrester to 12 months for the drug offence and three months for abstracting electricity – to run concurrently. Christopher Nicklin A dad-of-two started growing his own cannabis because he was fed-up with dealers lacing his weed with sand and monkey dust. Police raided Christopher Nicklin’s Bentilee home after smelling cannabis and recovered 11 plants, plus a number of smaller seedings. The 39-year-old told officers the drug was solely for his own use to manage pain from an old sports injury. And North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard he turned to growing cannabis because the poor quality of weed he bought on the streets had been ‘detrimental to his health’. Nicklin, of Dividy Road, Bentilee, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis. He apologised to the court through his probation officer and explained that his motivation for growing his own cannabis was ‘his anger towards dealers’ because drugs he bought from them contained ‘sand and monkey dust’. Mitigating, Zoe Leese said: “He has had an issue with cannabis for pain management. Because of his condition he has had to self medicate. He knows that cannabis is not the way forward. “He has reassured me that is it, he will have to go through his GP.” Nicklin was handed a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 12 days of rehabilitation. He was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £135 court costs. Craig Pond A former parliamentary candidate turned his council house into a cannabis factory after being hit by debts linked to the bedroom tax. Craig Pond resorted to the ‘desperate’ measure as he was struggling to pay off the money he owed Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the 54-year-old then asked his son Jason to sell on some of the drugs to friends. But the pair were rumbled when police raided Craig Pond’s home in Oversley Road, Fegg Hayes, and found the cannabis operation in the loft. Altogether, the police retrieved 1,860 grams of cannabis, with a street value of between £820 and £1,860. The court heard former BNP activist Craig – who fought the 2015 general election as an independent nationalist candidate for the Stoke-on-Trent North seat – was arrested. He went on to admit permitting premises to be used for the production of a class B drug and possession of cannabis with intent. The plea was on the basis that someone else was running the cannabis factory and he was just assisting by providing the space, ensuring the water buckets were full and cultivating some buds. She explained how Pond, of no fixed address, also suffers from pain thought to be caused by fibromyalgia. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. His son Jason Pond was also arrested after police found him in one of the bedrooms of the Fegg Hayes property. The 29-year-old, of Chell Heath Road, Fegg Hayes, pleaded guilty to possession of a class B drug with intent, possession of criminal property and being concerned in the supply of cannabis. His basis of plea was that he’s a cannabis user himself. The court heard he used cannabis to 'counter his depression' He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a requirement to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and a thinking skills programme. Jake Adams Teenager Jake Adams was caught with cannabis after his car was pulled over. The 23-year-old's Volkswagen Polo which was stopped in South Bank Street, Leek, and officers could smell the drugs with 5.42 grams of cannabis and cash seized. His passenger Samuel Ellis had 10 cannabis deals hidden inside his jogging bottoms when strip-searched. Officers seized more cash from Adams’s home. Both men had texts on their phones which linked them to the supply of cannabis. In total, police recovered £240 worth of cannabis, £235 from Ellis and £477.58 from Adams. Both defendants were sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 12 months, with 150 hours unpaid work, at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court Adams, of Kirkwell Grove, Milton, and Ellis, of Abbotts Drive, Sneyd Green, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply. Rob Glenn, representing Adams, said the defendant used cannabis as a coping mechanism to numb his physical pain as he has a slipped vertebrae and his emotional pain following the death of his grandad. Colin Morrell Prostate cancer victim Colin Morrell has been spared jail after he grew cannabis to help combat the pain. The 57-year-old bought £3,000 of equipment needed to grow the drug from a shop as he battled against the disease. Police carried out a raid on his Chell Heath home where they discovered 33 plants and 43 seedlings in an outbuilding. Officers also found small quantities of heroin. The defendant, of Bishop Road, Chell Heath, was handed a three-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to production of cannabis and possession of heroin. Daniel Mifflin Seriously-ill Daniel Mifflin grew cannabis worth up to £14,000 – so he could make cannabis oil to help with his cancer symptoms. Police found the drugs in the 40-year-old’s loft when they raided his Newcastle home. A court heard despite the large quantity of cannabis that was seized, there was no evidence of Mifflin having sold any. Instead, he was using the plants to create an oil, which he took as a vapour to help him through his thyroid cancer. Mifflin, North Street in Newcastle, went on to plead guilty to producing a controlled drug of Class B, and possessing a Class C drug. Zoe Leese, mitigating, said Mifflin had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer four years ago, which had spread to his lymph nodes. He has undergone treatment and several operations. Magistrates were told Mifflin could not be given a community order because he would not be able to carry out any of the requirements because of his illness. Instead, he was fined £200 and ordered to pay £185 court costs and a £30 victim surcharge. Andrzej Mazurek Dad Andrzej Mazurek set up a cannabis factory in his rented house – to help fund his daughter’s cancer treatment. Police found two bedrooms of the 56-year-old’s home in Stoke had been given over to growing the drug, while a third room was being set up for the same purpose. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the cannabis seized had a street value of up to £41,000, and Polish national Mazurek had also ‘dangerously’ bypassed the property’s electricity supply. The court heard the plants found were a few weeks from maturity and would have produced around 4kg of cannabis. Depending on how it was sold, this could have fetched between £14,000 and £41,000. Mazurek, of Sheppard Street, Stoke, was arrested. When he was interviewed, he told police he had grown the plants ‘out of desperation’ in order to pay for his daughter’s treatment for bone cancer back in Poland. He went on to plead guilty to producing cannabis and abstracting electricity at the property, where he had lived since March last year. Judge Paul Glenn sentenced Mazurek to three years in prison. For more on this story, click here. Anthony Wright Cannabis dealer Anthony Wright was jailed for nine months after he sold the drug to finance his £100-a-week habit. The 25-year-old window cleaner was arrested after police raided his home and seized 67.7 grams of cannabis, scales, dealer bags, a tick list and his phone which contained messages linking him to the supply of the drug. Wright, of Alcester Close, Chell Heath, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply. Arif Hussain, mitigating, said the defendant accepts there was a financial motive to his offending. Mr Hussain said: “He was the victim of a very serious assault which restricted the use of his arm and wrist. He became housebound and endured episodes of depression. He resorted to cannabis to relieve his pain and anxiety.” According to the NHS, 337,870 of hospital admissions in the UK were due to alcohol abuse in one year in the UK and in 2017 alone, there were 5,843 alcohol-specific deaths across the country. The U.S., however, seems to have discovered a potential solution to these alcohol-related incidents. In fact, states in which medical marijuana is legal showed almost a 15 per cent reduction in monthly alcohol sales, and in states where recreational marijuana is legal, sales dropped by 20%. A recent survey by CBDoil.co.uk - which is a major player in the cannabis oil industry - found that people in the UK feel it would create less of a strain on the NHS if marijuana – currently a Class B drug – was legalised across the country. The survey questioned 3,000 respondents and found that just over a third (36%) of Stoke-on-Trent residents who support legalisation believe its main benefit would be less of a burden on the NHS. Fourteen per cent of respondents in Stoke-on-Trent also feel the legalisation of cannabis would result in an increased tax revenue for the country. This is evident in the U.S., where the economic benefits of pot legalisation are already apparent in states like Colorado where revenues have reached a new high – in 2015, the state collected more than $135 million in taxes on medical and recreational marijuana. Daniel Mifflin grew cannabis worth up to £14,000 to make oil Additionally, ten per cent of supporters of marijuana legislation in Stoke-on-Trent feel it would alleviate the number of alcohol-related problems in the UK. Since November 2018, people in the UK have been legally able to access medicinal marijuana. However, it turns out the majority of people are actually unaware of the cannabis law. Broken down by different parts of the UK, the study found that three-quarters (75%) of Stoke-on-Trent residents were unaware that medical marijuana has been legalised. The study also discovered that over half of British people would report a neighbour who they suspected of smoking cannabis, and three-quarters feel the war on drugs has failed. One-third (34%) of respondents think that a cannabis store in their area would make a positive contribution. “It’s important that people are aware of the incredible benefits that cannabis can have as well as the legislations in place which allow its use,” said Mark Fawcett, spokesman for CBDoil.co.uk. “CBD oil can effectively relieve things like stress levels, insomnia and anxiety, and improve general wellbeing.” https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/one-third-stokies-want-cannabis-3014996
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