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UK: Smoking Cannabis made my life worth living
Derby Evening Telegraph Saturday 17 Mar 2001 I know I'm breaking the law when I smoke cannabis but if it helps make my life worth living then I'll do it." Forty-three-year-old Maggie Venables is brutally honest with her words. Multiple sclerosis has wrecked her life and she's not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. Maggie says she'll do anything to fight off and, more importantly, ease her chronic, incurable disease. And if that means smoking cannabis then that's what she'll do. She's done it before and she says, as a last resort, she'll consider it again. "I smoked cannabis several years ago when there was literally no medication available to sufferers of MS," said the part-time care lecturer at Burton College. "I'd heard that the drug could alleviate stress, which for me only worsens this debilitating illness, so I tried it." Smoking cannabis isn't something which Maggie is proud of. She spent her childhood and teenage years being warned about the perils of drug abuse and addiction. When her own three children were young, Maggie was constantly making her feelings about drugs known to them. For a well-educated, middle-aged, mother-of-three, taking illicit drugs isn't the norm. Being perfectly open about what she's done also makes Maggie very different from other people. But perhaps the biggest issue which fills Maggie with fear is knowing that when she's smoked cannabis, she's been breaking the law. That deeply worries her. But when Maggie was given the chance to receive the drug beta interferon, she stopped using cannabis. That was four years ago. And during the free clinical trial, Maggie's health has considerably improved. She strongly believes the drug has stabilised her condition. She's been able to return to work as a part-time lecturer and has enjoyed a relatively healthy existence. And she looks good. Although Maggie still walks with a stick and uses a motorised scooter to get around, she agrees, on the whole, she feels well. "These four years have been so much better. Compared to what I was like before the beta interferon, I've been all right. "I've had my life back. It's been great." This week, Maggie was hit with the heart-breaking news that the trials have been discontinued. On March 27, at 2pm, she must give back what remaining drugs she has left. Now, she says, her future looks bleak. She says she's being forced to think back to those early days when she received no medication to ease her MS. Those times were when she smoked cannabis. "What am I supposed to do?" she said. "Since administering the dose of beta interferon every week, my good health has returned. "I have had no major acute episodes or relapses. Compared to the days when I wasn't taking beta interferon, I've been much better. "I can't imagine what things will be like without beta interferon. "I have been asked this question many times. My answer stays the same. Yes, I think cannabis should be legalised. "I am in favour of legalising it for medical purposes. "At this stage in my condition, where all other reasonable alternatives and treatments are being denied on the basis of cost and political reasons, I feel it is necessary to consider all the options available. "If that means taking cannabis, then so be it." Asked how she'll get the drug, Maggie chooses not to reveal her sources. "If I need it, I'll know where to get it," she said. "That's all I'm saying. It's a sad fact, but cannabis is readily available in the community." Maggie admits the bottom fell out of her world when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It was October 19, 1993. "It's a day I'll never forget," she said. "For years I'd suspected that I might have the incurable disease, but I couldn't face knowing for sure. "I suppose, looking back, I was in denial. I wanted to put off the diagnosis for as long as possible." Maggie knew something was wrong when she started feeling "odd". She'd have frequent falls and began noticing that her balance was beginning to let her down. Doing something extremely simple like making a hot drink and carrying it into her living room proved difficult. She'd spill it. Strange numbing sensations would attack various parts of her body. She says the feeling came and went of its own accord. "I felt so tired," said Maggie. "But it was a fatigue that was not measurable or related to the activities I was doing. "I'd get a bug and it would knock me for six. I'd be off work for prolonged periods because I'd lose the ability to walk unaided. "All these aliments pointed to one thing, multiple sclerosis. "I knew it. I just knew what my GP was going to find." While visiting her local surgery, Maggie's doctor noticed her walking with a limp. During her consultation, he suggested looking in to why she was feeling so poorly. Tests revealed the worst. "It hurt like hell when my GP sat me down and uttered those words 'you have MS'. It was just awful. "I didn't want to know. I'd been trying to cope with things for years but it was beginning to get me down." Maggie says her life would literally stop and start depending on how well or ill she felt. When she was good, she worked as a full-time nurse and enjoyed a fun-filled life with her family and friends. She'd work out at the gym and was an extremely active woman. When she was bad, she'd lie in bed, supported with pillows to stop her from falling to one side. At mealtimes, because her face was numb, she'd miss her mouth, spilling food down her chin. After a particularly severe bout, it would take Maggie months before she could properly balance and walk again. Getting back to normal, everyday life, was a lengthy process. During Maggie's darkest days, her husband and three children took on a caring role. "I had to rely on my husband and boys to fetch and carry for me," she said. "My husband had to become the provider of all the household tasks. "I couldn't go shopping to the supermarket, or cook and clean. These times were extremely frightening and upsetting for us all. "I went from being full of energy and life, juggling work and family commitment, to someone who couldn't do a thing for myself. "If I tried to hang out the washing I'd fall over. If I tried to brush my teeth, I'd lose my balance and have to lean against the sink. "Everything I enjoyed doing stopped. I couldn't go to the gym and I couldn't enjoy long walks with my family. "I liked embroidery, but that had to stop. My hands would become so numb at times, I couldn't hold a needle. "I felt like I was losing myself to this illness. It was so terrible." Before beta interferon, Maggie went to bed not knowing what the next morning would bring. "I never knew when the next acute episode would occur, or how severe it would be. I had no idea what bodily function it would affect. "Waking up in the morning was always a worry prospect. I'd lie there wondering if I'd be all right today. "What I wanted more than anything in the world was to leap out of bed and go to work. Sometimes that didn't happen. If I was bad I'd have to stay at home. It was absolutely awful." One of the biggest decisions Maggie had to make was stepping down from her nursing role. She'd only been in the post for four years after returning to college to study on a three-year RGN basic training course. Her career was just taking off. Retirement was a word not even in Maggie's vocabulary. She qualified from college in 1992. One year later, medical tests revealed she was suffering from multiple sclerosis. It was a devastating blow. "It was a personal decision to leave my job," said Maggie. "At times, my MS was flooring me." She was forced to take long periods of time off work because she'd lost the ability to walk unaided. Leaving was a tough and difficult thing to do. "I'd been so thrilled to have the job that I had. I loved it. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my patients. "I was angry that the disease was getting the better of me, but my mobility was going down hill. "I had to be philosophical and honest about my job, I was struggling to do it." Maggie still has her off days and says, even now, parts of body let her down. She says her hands feel like she's constantly wearing a pair of woolly gloves and her feet often don't feel the floor. That's why she falls. "If someone stuck a pin in my face," explained Maggie. "I think I'd only just feel it. That's how numb my body can be." Going back to those early days of diagnosis, when Maggie was so desperately poorly and struggled through life without beta interferon, worries her beyond belief. She's like a ticking time bomb, waiting for her body to start a life sentence of suffering. What's sad is that over the years her life has steadily improved. What's more, Maggie says she's got one again. "I can't bear to think that I might lose my role as a functioning member of society. "I've got another job, which I love dearly and I can get out and about. I don't want to sit at home, ill. I'm the kind of person who need social stimulation. I need a reason for being. "If I get sick again, and have to stay at home, I'll loose all social contact. I'll be depressed. My life will stop =96 and I desperately don't want that to happen. "I know I'm limited to what I can do now, but I still feel relatively independent. I'm certainly not just existing like I was all those years ago. "If I deteriorate, I know my family will be brilliant. But I don't want to be a burden. My life has already dramatically changed and I've had to make so many sacrifices. "I don't want to wind back the clock to the years where I was so much worse. Why should I." Fearful of what the future might bring, Maggie says she'll do anything to maintain her current quality of life. And if that includes smoking cannabis again, she admits that she won't think twice. "Who wouldn't?" she asked. "I've been through enough already. Honestly speaking, is there anyone who can blame me for using cannabis if it helps me live with this horrendous condition. "In my hour of need I'll do what I think is right." How does Cannabis help sufferers cope with MS ? Multiple sclerosis is a hronic, often disabling, disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs or severe paralysis or loss of vision. Not only do they vary from one person to another, but from day to day for any given individual. Symptoms include fatigue, tingling, numbness, painful sensations, blurred or double vision, muscle weakness, impaired balance, tremor, speech and swallowing problems, and mood swings. Symptoms may come and go, appear in any combination, and be mild, moderate or severe. Some people will experience only a few of these symptoms in the course of their MS, while others will experience many more. As yet, there is no cure for MS. However, advances in treating and understanding MS are achieved daily and research to find a cure is very encouraging. Scientists have proved that cannabis-like drugs can alleviate some of the worst symptoms of the progressive disease multiple sclerosis, possibly bringing hope to the 85,000 or so sufferers in Britain. There have been claims for decades that cannabis could help MS patients with spasticity and tremors. But scientists from London, Aberdeen and South Carolina report that they have direct proof that a cannabinoid compound used on mice with a multiple sclerosis-like condition helped ameliorate symptoms within minutes. Cannabis was used medically for thousands of years. The Greeks knew of it. Queen Victoria is believed to have been prescribed it. Until 1971, doctors in Britain were able to prescribe it for patients. The drug has been said to help quell nausea during cancer chemotherapy and relieve the pressure in the eye in glaucoma. But because cannabis is a scheduled drug, and a herb that comes in varying strengths, serious analysis of its value has been difficult. The police and Crown Prosecution Service have become increasingly unwilling to prosecute for possession of cannabis. Juries now routinely acquit users who plead innocent on the grounds of medical necessity. Rather than take people to court, police are issuing cautions, which last month the Government announced would no longer mean carrying a criminal record for life. A Police Federation report last year called for its decriminalisation, although the Government announced it would ignore its recommendations. As a result, campaigners are becoming increasingly open about using and growing the drug. Colin Davies, founder of the Medical Marijuana Co-operative is growing plants in Manchester to supply, illegally, more than 100 people with medical conditions. He has been prosecuted three times, and the jury has acquitted him on each occasion. He is now thinking of importing the drug from mainland Europe. "I think the juries will be just as sympathetic," he said.
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