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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis is lifeline says sufferer of MS Claire Gardner Edinburgh News Friday 02 Mar 2001 ONE of Scotland's leading martial arts experts today claimed he has been driven to smoking cannabis to relieve the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis. Roderick MacDonald said he smokes the drug every morning as it is the only way he has found of easing his pain. But the former coach of the Scottish national Tae Kwon Do team insisted he had only resorted to breaking the law because he cannot get the best available treatment for the disease on the NHS. Health campaigners believe beta interferon - which is widely prescribed on the continent and to patients in some areas of England - should be freely available across Scotland and the rest of the UK. However, patients are being denied the drug in the Lothians because health chiefs are still to be convinced of its merits. Mr MacDonald, who was diagnosed with the illness last year, said his doctor at the Western General Hospital would only prescribe him painkillers which he feels are not suitable and leave him in agony each morning. Now the 44-year-old, from North Bughtlin Brae, near Drumbrae, spends about £60 a week buying cannabis, through people he knows that work in Edinburgh's pubs and clubs. He said: "Every morning I roll a joint and have it for my breakfast. "It's very peculiar, it's almost as if the pain's being washed away from you once you have just one drag," he said. He said that his wife Denise, 39, supported his cannabis smoking. However, he said he was more careful about lighting up around their four children, aged between three and 14. "They don't really want their friends knowing that their daddy smokes cannabis ," he said. "They understand why I use it and it is called "daddy's medicine"." Mr MacDonald insisted he and other MS sufferers should have the right to smoke cannabis in order to relieve their symptoms. "It's absolutely necessary for me to function on a daily basis. If I don't have a smoke the pain is terrible. Every muscle, even my jaw and cheeks ache. It's a burning, very, very sore pain. "If I don't get some better painkillers or a prescription for beta interferon, then I will continue to smoke cannabis." Mark Hazelwood, the director of the MS Society in Scotland, has insisted beta interferon should be prescribed across the country. However, Doug Harrison, the society's policy officer, said: "The position of the society is that evidence is only anecdotal at the moment. This evidence suggests that the drug has an impact on relief of pain and muscle spasticism caused by MS," he said. This year the Medical Research Council approved a £1 million grant for a three-year clinical trial on the effect of cannabis on spasticity in MS sufferers. Mr Harrison added: "When this trial is complete we hope to have scientific evidence as to whether the use of cannabis in MS spasticism is useful or not." A Lothian Health spokesman said: "Beta interferon does not work for everyone and it would have to be given to a large number of patients before it was known who would benefit ." A Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: "Mr Roderick MacDonald remains a patient of ours and his consultant and the patient liaison team at the Western General Hospital are available to speak to him about any concerns." A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "Our main targets are drug dealers. He would not be a priority for us."
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