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UK: The State against Lezley and Mark Gibson Tim Henley The Extract Wednesday 08 Jan 2020 We are about to embark on a journey of waste and incompetence that cost you and me upwards of £100,000 and counting. Lezley and Mark Gibson should be an inspiration to all those that fight through their pain and adversity to achieve a goal; getting the authorities to rethink policy. I first met them in Durham where they were on a panel eloquently describing how they were being prosecuted for growing cannabis. Their story was compelling. With around 100,000 MS sufferers in the UK, the couple has been fighting for decades to get cannabis legalised due to its therapeutic value. Mark and Lezley have put their liberty on the line many times to campaign for change and to help others by supplying free edibles (Medables) to fellow sufferers. They were part of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) and Mark stood as a candidate in the 2006 general election. Mark and Lezley left campaigning after the untimely and very public break up of the LCA. However, all of their campaigning seemed to catch the attention of the authorities who were clinging to their “Cannabis has no Medicinal Benefit” line. At the same time, Victoria Atkins, then Drugs Minister, and Phillip May, husband of Prime Minister Theresa May, had vested interests in companies that were attempting to make the UK the biggest cannabis exporter in the world. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but something about that doesn’t seem quite right. Let’s just take a moment to recap: Lezley used cannabis to alleviate a series of medical conditions and was self-sufficient, living life and feeling as well as she could.Lezley and Mark tried to spread the word and help others. They were prosecuted. Lezley was forced to take Sativex, an expensive NHS-paid-for prescription, which was eventually withdrawn. Lezley got an official Bedrocan prescription for high strength cannabis. The kind the UK would term Skunk. The cannabis prescription cost her and Mark upwards of £26 per gram, a cost they could not afford. What do they do? Take a moment and let that sink in. The UK state now accepts cannabis has medical benefits, so what came next is literally mind-boggling. Lezley and Mark kept themselves to themselves, self-medicating and keeping a very low profile. Until 19th Jan 2019. At 3:30 pm, 4 uniformed officers charged into the house. Little Mayze, their 6-year-old granddaughter, was petrified and traumatised by the display of State Authority and aggression. The police hauled Lezley and Mark down to the cells and confiscated all of Lezley’s medication, even an out of date Sativex that could have helped her cope with the trauma. The Police and Crime Commissioner and Police Chief Constable of Cumbria do not have an enlightened cannabis policy, unlike the neighbouring area Durham, so they were taken to trial. Remember: this is your tax money paying for the state to find, prosecute, and detain medical cannabis users! Lezley and Mark were summoned to crown court 4 times in 2019. During their last appearance of the decade, on the 12th December, the prosecution said Lezley could have obtained the medicine via the NHS or private prescription. Well, the NHS has not issued a single medical cannabis prescription yet and the £2,500 it would cost to renew a prescription (for a less effective strain) is beyond them. On the 6th Jan 2020, the most recent court date, the whole farce unravelled. The case was dismissed because the prosecution was not in the public interest. The State seems committed to using police resources for no useful outcome. The Dutch have a term, Gedogen, which essentially means the police will turn a blind eye where appropriate – because prosecuting someone for the possession of a small amount of cannabis is in no one’s best interest. However, it seems the UK still feels the need to prosecute individual cannabis users. It happens time and time again and you pay for it! What a travesty! The UK government is exporting cannabis while simultaneously claiming it has no medical benefit and not allowing UK patients reasonable access. This has to stop #VoteCannabis in 2020. https://www.theextract.co.uk/health/state-against-lezley-mark-gibson/?fbclid=IwAR32EucWFxvpLC6tKCpCRYn8AMHptP-Ret2gA4RrCaikgsx07OnBD8qoY8U
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