Subj: Jury clears man over 'medicinal' cannabis

Date: Jun 6, 1998

Source: The Times

Jury clears man over 'medicinal' cannabis

(Acquittal of father who used drug to alleviate back pain may
hasten legalisation, WRITES RUSSELL JENKINS)

A MAN who admitted smoking cannabis to relieve chronic
back pain has been cleared by a jury at Manchester Crown
Court of any drug offence.

The jury acquitted Colin Davies, 30, a former joiner, from
Brinnington, Manchester, after he told them that he smoked
four home-grown joints a day instead of taking legally
prescribed painkillers.

Mr Davies, who has two children and who defended himself,
began cultivating cannabis plants in his flat after breaking his
back when he fell 60 feet from a bridge near his home in
Stockport four years ago.

He survived after lengthy treatment in hospital but now walks
with a limp and is in constant pain. He said the various
treatments prescribed by doctors prompted spasms and
sickness and he had turned to the drug in desperation.

Police arrested him last November, seizing 18 cannabis
plants hidden behind a partition in his bedroom, but a jury
took only 40 minutes to find him not guilty of cultivating
cannabis under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.

Mr Davies said outside court that he intended to carry on
smoking cannabis. "I felt fantastic that the jury had listened to
me. It was a just verdict," he said.

"It is a mistake when even the BMA [British Medical
Association] has said the police and courts should think
before prosecuting people for using cannabis on medical
grounds."

Matthew Atha, principal consultant of the Independent
Drugs Monitoring Unit and one of three medical experts
called upon by Mr Davies to provide evidence, said the
verdict would bring closer the day when cannabis use for
medical purposes is legalised.

He said: "The priority is to make sure those with legitimate
medical reasons are not turned into criminals. A not guilty
verdict means the jury thinks the law is an ass and they are
more sensitive to the needs of people who need to use
cannabis for medical reasons than the Government."

Mr Davies's solicitor, James Riley, described the case as
ground-breaking. "It will heap further pressure on the
Government to follow recommendations from the BMA to
allow the prescription of cannabis to aid the treatment of
chronic pain," he said.

At the start of the one-day hearing Ian Metcalfe, for the
prosecution, said Mr Davies knew what he was doing was
illegal and told the jury: "You have taken an oath to give a
true verdict according to the law. That is all the Crown asks.
You have a duty to return a guilty verdict."

However, Mr Davies said that large intakes of prescribed
paracetamol and codeine provoked spasms that left him
hospitalised. He had read about cannabis as a pain reliever
and decided to buy some from a street dealer.

He said he did not like doing this so he decided to try
growing his own plants at home, purely for his own use for
the purposes of pain relief. "I chose something else out of
desperation," Mr Davies said. "I am offering a defence of
necessity. What choice did I have? The only choice from
doctors is more pain killers." Brian Todd, a consultant
orthopaedic surgeon, confirmed in a statement that Mr
Davies suffered multiple spinal injuries and rib fractures,
spending two months in hospital.

Allan Gilman, his family doctor, said in a statement that he
had seen Mr Davies move into spasm because of the pain on
several occasions. He remained in extreme difficulty and had
been referred to a pain clinic, he said.

Mr Atha, who has been invited to give evidence to a House
of Lords Select Committee inquiry into cannabis use, told the
jury that a BMA report published last November had called
for the rescheduling of cannabis to allow for the drug to be
made available for chronic pain relief.

After the verdict Mr Davies asked whether the confiscated
cannabis plants could be returned. Judge Barry Woodward
told him that he should look to his solicitor for advice.

"If you cultivate cannabis again and come before the courts,
another jury may return a different verdict," the judge said.

Cultivation of cannabis attracts a maximum sentence of 14
years imprisonment, but Home Office guidelines suggest a
fine of up to £5,000 for those who grow small quantities for
personal use.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "We
prosecute the law as it is, not as it may be in the future."