Date: 22 Feb 2002

Source: The Press and Journal, Aberdeen, UK

Website: http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/

Contact: pj.editor@ajl.co.uk

Author: Laura Grant

Leniency for sick woman who took cannabis for pain

A DISABLED woman who uses cannabis to relieve the pain of a rare muscle-wasting disease escaped punishment in court yesterday after a sheriff showed sympathy for her condition.

Tina Lafferty, 27, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted having the Class B drug at her Ellon home, claiming conventional medicines had failed her.

She was admonished by Sheriff Patrick Davies after defence solicitor Stuart Bcveridge said his client realised she had done something she should not have, but asked that the exceptional circumstances of the case be taken into consideration.

The verdict was given a cautious welcome by politicians last night.

Lafferty was found by police with cannabis resin worth between 50-70 pounds in her possession on February 10, 2001. She blames a neighbour for contacting the police.

Lafferty, of the town's Annand Road, who is wheelchair-bound and unable to work as a result of her condition, said she found the drug helped ease her pain in ways prescribed medicines have so far failed to match.

She has attended the Pain Management Clinic in Woolmanhill since being diagnosed seven years ago.

Admonishing her, Sheriff Davies said he understood the reasons behind her action, but added: "What you did is unlawful and remains unlawful.

You should not break the law in this manner.

"However, it appears the Pain Management Clinic have given up trying to treat you."

Lafferty was born with Charcot Marie Tooth syndrome, an inherited neurological disorder which affects about 500 people in the UK. It is a painful condition which causes sufferers to slowly lose normal use of their limbs, hands and feet as the nerves and muscles degenerate.

Speaking outside court after the verdict Lafferty said: "I am over the moon with the judge's decision. Thank God I got someone with so much common sense that he took the time to look at my case and make an intelligent decision. Other people who suffer similar disorders may not be as lucky."

Lafferty said for her, the benefits of smoking an illegal drug had outweighed the action of breaking the law.

"I suffer very badly from the side effects of most of the drugs doctors have. put me on," she said.

"Cannabis helps give me a normal life. Without it I am in severe pain. It brings me down to a level where I can cope and helps me sleep.

"Before I started taking it the medication I was on had stopped me sleeping properly for about three months."

Lafferty, who lives on her own in a specially-adapted council house, said she had been given various different tablets and therapies. by doctors including dihydrocodeine, epilepsy drugs and electrical impulse therapy.

She said nothing had given her the level of pain relief combined with the clarity of mind smoking cannabis had.

"All kinds of people use it as an alternative to prescribed pills. The main difference for me is that I can think straight when I smoke cannabis and can get out and about on my electric scooter, Whereas I was like a zombie on some of the things doctors gave me."

The verdict comes days after it was announced cannabis-based painkillers could he made available on prescription from the National Health Service within two years.

Trials funded by the Medical Research Council - with the backing of the Department of Health and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society - to assess the use of cannabinoids in pain relief are already under way.

North-east SNP MSP Brian Adam cautiously welcomed yesterday's verdict. He said: "It is difficult for patients with these kinds of medical conditions to get good preparations for pain relief, but it would be unacceptable for any politician to encourage them to break the law.

"I think this decision reflects the general view of the population that it is inappropriate to punish someone for getting themselves proper pain relief.

"What does concern me is that cases like this are sometimes used as a smokescreen for the legalisation of cannabis, which I am totally opposed to?"

Aberdeen Labour MP Anne Begg agreed, adding: "This shows why it is important to get proper manufactured drugs out there that have been tested and that we know are safe and do work. I am against the use of cannabis for recreational purposes and believe that it should remain illegal, but we have to make sure that people like this woman are not put in that kind of position again?"

LINDA HENDRY, spokeswoman for the Legalise Cannabis Campaign in Scotland, said she hoped the ruling would prove to be a step forward.

'Unfortunately, it seems to be not good enough and not soon enough. Lots of sufferers who are in real pain because of their conditions will be excluded from receiving treatment if the guidelines are too strict. They will still be forced to find alternative, and illegal, methods of obtaining relief."