news @ schmoo

feb/march 2005

possession with intent to heal
by andy cornwell

Interested parties gathered at the Appeal Court at the Royal Courts of Justice on Feb 16th and 17th to hear the current crop of medical cannabis test cases aired in court number five.

The hearing had been adjourned from October 2004 to allow none other than the Attorney General and the head of the Crown Prosecution Service to give their considered opinion on the topic of “medical necessity” defenses in UK courts.

Three Appeal Judges heard complex submissions from ten bewigged barristers concerning the relative merits of five separate cases relating to the cultivation and supply of medicinal cannabis. Four of the cases were appealed on the basis that the individual trial judges had been wrong in refusing the defendants the chance to present a full NOT GUILTY “medical necessity” defense to a jury.

A packed public gallery included several of the subjects of the appeals: Tony Taylor, proprietor of the unique Holistic Center in Kings Cross, and Jeff Ditchfield of Beggars Belief in North Wales. The latter is in the bizarre situation of having been acquitted by a jury last year who heard evidence that the cannabis he grew was for an organised group of medical users suffering a range of serious illnesses, only to then discover that the Crown Prosecutor was appealing the “not guilty” verdict making it the fifth case on the menu!!

Alongside, on the solid wooden benches, many with a personal interest in the outcome strained to hear and make sense of complex legal arguments from both sides. Campaigners, healers and medical cannabis users including Patricia Tabram, the cannabis cooking grandma, who felt frustrated that there were still no favors apparent from current government public policy towards those who grow, share, supply or indeed use cannabis medicinally. She is herself due for sentence on cannabis charges on April 8th at Newcastle Crown Court, delayed from March 11, and now before the most senior judge and on the same day as the royal wedding. Checkout her website at grandma-eats-cannabis.com

the right to choose your own medicine

Under English Common Law the defense of “necessity … duress of circumstance” is not available to anyone charged with murder, attempted murder or arson. At one point Counsel for the Crown argued feebly that cannabis offences might also be included in that category, and that to allow juries to hear cases involving medical necessity defenses would open the proverbial floodgates to growers throughout this green and pleasant land. Sounds familiar?

There was no mention of the fact that cannabis tinctures were legally available and dispensed for over a century as a valuable, safe and effective medicine until 1971 when they were ‘criminalised’ and banished by their inclusion as a schedule 1 substance prohibited under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

US Federal Law likewise still maintains that cannabis has NO therapeutic value, in conflict with those many individual American states that have passed enlightened and compassionate laws) The D.E.A. even has a laughable ‘why medical marijuana is a myth’ web page if you need an example of how far the state will go to justify prohibition.

GP’s who supply cannabis to patients face a maximum of 14 years under UK laws from 1971 to date! Doctors of course legally prescribe morphine and yes, the Crown couldn’t resist analogies with Dr Shipman’s abuse of the supposedly controlled NHS system. Talking of the thorny supply issue, the present head of the CPS, Ken McDonald QC, whose opinions were sought in these appeals, was himself convicted of supplying cannabis back in his student days…. posted a bit to a friend as a one-off you know…£75 fine ( maximum sentence 14 years ).

Little appeared to be known about the current situation with GW Pharmaceuticals whose groundbreaking licensed cannabinoid research has been frustrated by continual official delays in securing a UK licence for their Sativex sprays and tablets: made in the UK from real plant materials and not to be confused with earlier inferior synthetic products such as Nabilone which seek to mimic the unique properties of cannabinoids. The Canadian Government are about to licence GW products ahead of the UK’s Medicine Regulation body who have angered many informed observers by insisting on further evidence of efficacy and benefits.

The ability of those in acute pain to self-medicate and find the most effective dosage and method of ingestion was considered. Evidence from Dr Willie Notcutt - an authority in the field -conceded that smoking or vaporising cannabis allows a medi-user to best know the level he or she needs.

Judgment was reserved (more news next issue) so in theory the defense of “medical necessity” before a jury is still available in the UK on a case by case basis. Assuming they don’t abolish your right of trial by jury first!

It is worth remembering that alcohol prohibition in the US was only repealed after repeated common sense acquittals by juries who were sympathetic to those charged with brewing home-made liquor. Fortunately cannabis seeds have always been legal in this country- a fact that seemed to surprise the learned appeal court judges! The proportion of cannabis

So what next? An election brewing …. Potential appeals to the House Of Lords or European Court .... Applications for licenses to grow and dispense this particular herb…. EC moves to regulate herbalists….. farcical Labour proposals to treat cannabis detected in the body as the equivalent of “possession” …..???? Confusing innit M’Lud?!?

Class “C” reclassification one year ago has failed to address the issue and the advice of the House of Lords and Runciman Reports into medical cannabis have been ignored by the present government. Alarmingly many uninformed lawyers and advice agencies are guilty of advising clients that they have no defense under “medical necessity”, merely mitigation, when charged with cultivation, production or supply offences. This is why organisations like Release are so necessary, with a legal team staffed by qualified lawyers, supported by supervised and trained volunteers.

Oh well, after 5,000 years of documented medicinal cannabis use and no recorded death or allergic reaction, followed by decades of inhumane and deliberate lies (prohibition…), we’ll have to wait a few more months to discover whether our elected government will continue to allow prosecutions against those who relieve pain and suffering, or whether the only legal medical cannabis will be the one available from doctors- Sativex. Or maybe acknowledged experts in the broader field of cannabis as medicine, such as Tony Taylor, will be ‘legalised’ and allowed to raise the quality of life for many people here and abroad.

As one well-known medical cannabis user and activist Chris Baldwin said on his release from prison last year, where the prison doctor prescribed valium for his acute pain condition, in place of his preferred choice of hi-grade organic herb: “I BROKE THE LAW AND MY PAIN WENT AWAY.”

Andy Cornwell.