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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Scots support medical use of cannabis
Aine Harrington The Herald (Glasgow)
Tuesday 08 May 2001 THE vast majority of Scots want to see cannabis legalised, but only for medical use, and on prescription, a new survey shows. A total of 64% of those polled by System Three for The Herald wanted to see the drug legalised for medical purposes, with a further 15% in favour of legalisation for general use. However, 19% of those surveyed were against its legalisation for whatever reason, and 3% did not have a view. The poll comes just six months after eight out of 10 doctors surveyed called for the right to prescribe cannabis for their patients to relieve the symptoms of cancers and other illnesses. It also follows a House of Lords report in March which recommended the legalisation of cannabis-based drugs for medicinal purposes. The System Three poll showed there were also variations in the levels of support for legalisation, depending on political affiliation, and where people live. Two-thirds of both Liberal Democrat and Conservative voters backed medical legalisation of cannabis, while 63% of the SNP, and 62% of Labour supporters held similar views. On the issue of legalisation for general use, Nationalists were the most liberal, with 21% for the idea, followed by Lib Dems at 17%, Labour at 13%, and finally Conservatives at 9%. People in Glasgow (28%) are the most opposed to cannabis legalisation, while the Lothians (77%) had the highest support for the drug being legalised for medical purposes, and the south of Scotland (19%) had the greatest percentage for total legalisation. The British Medical Association is awaiting the results of Medical Research Council trials, due out in 2003, into the effectiveness of compounds derived from cannabis plants, called cannabinoids. Dr John Garner, chairman of the Scottish council of the BMA, said: "While it is clearly understood that cannabis itself is unsuitable for medical use, individual cannabinoids have a therapeutic potential for a number of medical conditions in which present drugs or other treatments are not fully adequate." Clare Hodges, a multiple sclerosis sufferer and member of the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, dedicated to reforming the laws which prohibit medical access to the drug, said: "I am delighted with the result of this survey and it is good to see the campaign is being built up more and more, so people now realise that, for many of us, this is about getting medicine to alleviate our conditions." Anti-drugs campaigners said they were not surprised by the survey. Alistair Ramsey, director of Scotland Against Drugs, said: "I don't think anybody would try to stop anyone suffering an illness from being deprived of a drug which allows that person some symptoms to be alleviated." David Liddell, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, called on politicians to be brave and allow a full and open debate on the cannabis issue. He said that he was "not surprised by these figures".
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