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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Using Cannabis as Pain Relief 'Should Not Be A Crime'
Stephen Howard PA News
Monday 11 Oct 2004 People who use cannabis to relieve chronic pain should not be convicted for possession, three appeal judges were told today. Five cases are being brought at the Court of Appeal in what is being seen as a test of the legal attitude to the drug in the light of Home Secretary David Blunkett's move to downgrade it to class C. Edward Fitzgerald QC, representing two of the appellants, told the court: 'The primary concern of the cases is should it be a crime to resort to personal use of cannabis for the alleviation of serious and chronic pain?' He said the men he was representing, Barry Quayle and Reay Wales, were both afflicted by serious and chronic conditions. Mr Quayle has had both legs amputated below the knee and suffers pain from damaged tissue and 'phantom limb' sensation. Mr Wales has serious bone and pancreas conditions. Both men found that prescription drugs were ineffective and caused serious side effects with the risk of addiction. In Mr Quayle's case, the judge ruled that a defence of necessity was not available because he had to show that the cultivation of cannabis was necessary to save life or prevent serious injury. Serious injury did not extend to the relief of pain or even serious and unpleasant pain, said the judge. In Mr Wales's case, he left the issue of necessity to the jury but warned them it was only available if Mr Wales believed that if he did not use the drug he would soon be killed or seriously injured. Mr Fitzgerald said: 'Cannabis is a most effective form of pain relief for other conditions and in any event it avoids the painful side effects of more conventional pain relief prescriptions. 'We say the basic concept is the justification or excuse to avoid a greater evil.' He said there had been a 'rigid adherence' to what constitutes necessity when in fact the defence to a crime also extended to cases where it is necessary to relieve serious pain. 'Pain is capable of causing serious harm,' he said.
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