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UK: MS victim: My special cannabis chocolates
Andrew Black Press & Journal, Aberdeen
Friday 20 Jun 2003 A WHEELCHAlR-bound multiple sclerosis sufferer yesterday told a sheriff how she developed cannabis chocolates to help ease the symptoms for a fellow victim of the condition. Elizabeth Ivol, also known as Biz, told her trial at Kirkwall in Orkney that she "began taking cannabis to numb the pain of her illness, which she described as like having "barbed wire going through my spine". Ivol, 55, of Herston, South Ronaldsay, agreed to help others suffering from MS - a condition with no cure - by developing the "special Belgian chocolates" as they were earlier described, as well as cannabis patches to be applied directly to the skin. Ivol denies several charges in relation to handling the drug. Yesterday she told the court that her former island GP had recommended cannabis after she tried a long list of legal medications - some of which led to "horrific" side effects. Ivol explained that she and others came up with the idea of cannabis chocolates to help a non-smoking MS sufferer. "We had to figure out a way of getting cannabis into his system. He did not smoke, and that's how the cannabis chocolate came about," she said. Ivol told Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie that in researching the drug she found that combining it with animal fat increased its relaxing effects. She added: "I do not know how it got out about the cannabis chocolate " Although Ivol said she was in regular contact with others about the use of cannabis, she stressed to her advocate, David Moggach, she was only approached by others and "never actually encouraged anybody to use cannabis". She said her day-to-day life had become almost unbearable since being diagnosed with MS in the early 90s. Describing in detail her painful existence, she said: "At the moment I feel like somebody's pulling barbed wire through my spine. "I have muscle spasms and my eyesight's failing but it has not gone yet. "It is very, very painful, "I'm completely and utterly paralysed from the neck down, more or less. "A nurse comes to get me up between nine and 10 o'clock and plonks me in the wheelchair where I sit until about three o'clock when somebody comes and puts me back to bed, and that's it. "I can make myself a cup of tea, if my hands are alive, and answer the phone. Usually by one o'clock my fingers are paralysed - I can't even hold a pen." Ivol told the court that over the years she had taken much prescription medication as well as special diets but nothing seemed to work. Describing the effects of one kind of tranquilliser she used to take, she said: "I just sat in a chair, looking like a zombie and gazing out of the window." Ivol said the side effects of another drug she was prescribed were "horrific" and increased the pain she suffered. "I couldn't bear any part of my body to be touched at all" The court heard that, although apprehensive at first, she eventually began smoking one cannabis joint each evening. Ivol said: "It got to the point where I felt that nobody was doing anything for MS and when you find something that does alleviate the symptoms you go for it." Mr Moggach asked her: "And you found something that helped?" "Cannabis," she replied. She continued: "It is not like a nasty chemical drug, it is a natural God-given plant." Ivol said she had toyed with the idea of using cannabis for two years but had been unsure because of the stigma attached to the drug's use. But she added: "It was either cannabis or nothing. I tried everything else and nothing worked." Using cannabis relaxed her muscle spasms and also acted as an appetite stimulant, she said. Under cross-examination by fiscal Sue Foard, Ivol admitted that she had possessed, produced and supplied cannabis. Asked why she hadn't simply pleaded guilty to the charges, Ivol said she did not think she was doing anything wrong. The trial is being heard in Kirkwall's leisure complex, the Pickaquoy Centre, which has better access for Ivol's wheelchair than the usual court. The case resumes on July 2.
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