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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Comment: A victim of the law
The Herald, Glasgow
Thursday 03 Jul 2003 LEADER Prevent indignity with medical use of cannabis It is of no comfort to Biz Ivol that the law has once again demonstrated it is an ass as regards its treatment of people who use cannabis to alleviate the effects of a debilitating illness. Miss Ivol has been in trouble with the law on and off since 1997 when she was first reported to the authorities for growing cannabis at her home in South Ronaldsay, Orkney. She has multiple sclerosis (MS) and has found, like many other sufferers, that cannabis is the only effective panacea for its awful symptoms. There is expert testimony to support her views. Some five years ago, the House of Lords science and technology committee recommended reclassifying cannabis so that it could be prescribed by doctors to named patients to ease their medical conditions. That recommendation set in train a process that, assuming all scientific, medical, regulatory, and political hurdles are passed, could result in cannabis-based medicines being available to patients such as Ms Ivol by next year - at the earliest. But she is tired of fighting for the legalisation of medical cannabis. She had been on trial in Kirkwall on charges of possessing, producing, and distributing cannabis. She denied the charges, but said she would take her life when the case ended. After learning that the Crown intended to drop the charges because of her deteriorating condition, she took an overdose yesterday and is undergoing hospital treatment. She expressed disappointment at the Crown's decision. It might have let the prosecution service off the hook. There would have been no justice in punishing Ms Ivol. Although the government has decided to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, the maximum sentence for convicted dealers is to be increased from five to 14 years. Ms Ivol, who is a wheelchair user, takes cannabis in chocolate form, and is prepared to supply it to fellow sufferers for no profit or gain. Patients with illnesses as serious as MS, and some that are less debilitating, are routinely prescribed substances that are much more potent than cannabis. These include opiates and diamorphine. Methodone is widely prescribed as a substitute for heroin, a truly dangerous drug. Methodone is misused, as are other prescription drugs, such as valium. The law has already crossed the line from consistency to inconsistency in its attitude to prescribing drugs for medical use. Adding cannabis to the list of prescribed drugs would not turn Britain into a nation of drug addicts. But it would improve the quality of life of people like Ms Ivol, crippled by a disease made bearable only by a substance the government has, by its drug policy pronouncements, accepted is not a major threat to society. The Canadian government was the first in the world to legalise the use of cannabis for medical purposes. It can only be a matter of time before it happens here. Trials are under way to test the safety and efficacy of cannabis, the form in which it should be prescribed, and to whom. There must be a proper testing regime. Once satisfactorily concluded, there should be no government delay in changing the law. Future victims of illnesses like MS should not have to suffer the injustice and indignity endured by the likes of Ms Ivol at the hands of an inflexible law that has had its day.
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