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UK: Man used cannabis to relieve illness claim
Isle of Man Online
Monday 12 Nov 2001 A MAN who cultivated enough cannabis plants to create 4,320 reefers is standing trial this week, arguing he needs them to ease the pain of his illness. Paul Whitehead, 48, was found with around 15 grammes of cannabis bush and resin in his home and 127 cannabis plants growing in his garden, the court heard. Mr Whitehead doesn't deny the drugs are his but has pleaded not guilty to cultivating cannabis, possession of cannabis resin and possession of cannabis bush on the grounds of medical necessity, saying he's suffering from multiple sclerosis. Alastair Montgomerie, prosecuting, told the seven-man jury police searched Mr Whitehead s home in Rencell Hill, Laxey, on June 4 last year. They found eight grammes of cannabis bush and 7.2 grammes of cannabis resin. Officers also found 57 plants growing in a shed under synthetic lighting, 42 in a home-made greenhouse and a further 28 in the garden. Mr Montgomerie said Mr Whitehead had failed to try other, legal drugs and argued he wasn't suffering from MS but from a degenerative neck disease. Mr Whitehead was cultivating the cannabis disproportionate to his needs, alleged Mr Montgomerie, and was growing it as a normal cannabis user might. But during a police interview read to the Court of General Gaol Delivery, Mr Whitehead said cannabis was the only thing that worked. He said he didn't want to be 'mashed up' on other drugs when he had daughters aged 12 and 15 and a building business to look after. He told officers he suffered pain in his back and legs and needed cannabis first thing in the morning so he could 'focus'. He said: 'I am not on a crusade but I just want to get on with my life. I have not just made the decision to use cannabis flippantly.' A statement submitted by Mr Whitehead to police was read out in court. He insisted he had the right to cultivate cannabis under the European Convention of Human Rights. He said: 'I deny my possession of cannabis constitutes a criminal offence as the use of cannabis is of such medicinal importance to me.' Mr Montgomerie called a number of experts to give evidence on the effects of cannabis and the nature of MS. Forensic scientist Denise Naylor, based at the Home Office forensic science laboratory, Chorley, said cultivating cannabis is specialised and believed the methods used by Mr Whitehead were unsophisticated. She believed Mr Whitehead used the shed to reproduce autumn conditions which would encourage the plants to flower, which produces the most potent part of the cannabis plant. She said that, based on the information she had, the total amount of cannabis produced from the plants could be as much as 864 grammes, which would produce 4,320 reefers. Specialist nurse Megan Burgess, who deals with MS at Hope Hospital, Salford, said the majority of patients find relief from the use of legal medical drugs. Of MS sufferers she'd dealt with only a small number had resorted to cultivating their own cannabis. After questioning from defence advocate Dawn Jones, she conceded there were potential side-effects to the drugs but said there are for almost any drug. Consultant neurologist Dr Jon Sussman, based at Hope Hospital, told the court he believed Mr Whitehead was suffering from degenerative neck disease rather than MS. He said the symptoms suggested a problem with trapped nerves rather than being neurologically-based. Independent pharmaceutical advisor Jeremy Clitherow explained those smoking cannabis will feel giggly at first, followed by a pain relieving effect, then intoxication and finally stupor. He believed two reefers of average strength cannabis a day would be enough to relieve his pain. He said: 'I cannot understand why someone would need over 100 plants when a small number of quality plants would do. You would only need about six.' Consultant psychiatrist Dr Susan Rubens, of the Liverpool Drug Dependency Clinic, said she was not aware of any benefit gained from using the drug for degenerative neck illness. She said: 'Growing 127 plants is the sort of quantity I would expect individuals using cannabis to get stoned to use rather than the small quantities people use for MS.' The trial continues.
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