Subj: Legalise cannabis say Guild women

Date: Jun 19, 1998

Source: Daily Express

A call for cannabis to be legalised for medical use was made by the
Townswomen's Guilds yesterday. There was a large vote in favour after
delegates heard a plea from mother-of-two Clare Hodges, who suffers from
multiple sclerosis.

Mrs Hodges, 38, told how using cannabis was the only way to ease her
excruciating pain. "I have had MS for 16 years and the condition has got
worse," she said. "None of the medicines have helped." "After nine years I
read an article about cannabis and how it had helped others with my
condition. I tried it as a last resort and it helped me greatly. I have
continued to use small amounts ever since. Disabled people should not be
forced to act like criminals to get the only medication that helps them."
Mrs Hodges, who runs the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics from her home in
the North, added: "The drug was only banned in 1973 because of its
association with drug misuse." She received rapturous applause at the
guilds' annual meeting in Birmingham.

June Mawson, a representative from Torbay, told the meeting: "Louis
Armstrong smoked it all his life and it did not impair his performance once.
In the Sixties, the popularity of the reefer soared as an alternative to
drinking alcohol. And even Queen Victoria's physician prescribed it for
her."

But Peter Stoker of the National Drug Prevention Alliance warned that
cannabis was a "mind-altering" drug which could lead to mental problems. He
pointed out that there were difficulties in proving that cannabis really was
beneficial to those in pain. "Our position is that if a substance is proved
safe and effective and it is proved that the benefits outweigh the side
effects, then it is passed," he said. "If that was the case with cannabis,
it would be fair, but it isn't the case. The rejection of cannabis is not
new for modern medicine. As long ago as 1932 it was condemned as a dirty
drug. A lot of people who want to use cannabis want to by-pass the test
procedures and you have to ask yourselves why. Cannabis is unsuitable for
medicine."

His speech was greeted by muted clapping. After a show of hands, 1,163
voted in favour, with 407 against.

The Townswomen, launched in 1928, are not known for straying from their
generally conservative beliefs. The guilds were formed from the
Suffragettes movement, which tried to educate public opinion to recognise
the justice of full citizenship for women.