Pubdate: Tue, 09 Jul 2002
Source: News & Star (UK)
Copyright: 2002 News & Star
Contact:  http://www.news-and-star.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/797
Cited: THC4MS  http://www.thc4ms.org.uk

CHOCS AWAY...WITH A CANNABIS FILLING

HUNDREDS of chocolate bars containing cannabis are being made in Cumbria 
and exported around the world.

A group called Therapeutic Help from Cannabis for Multiple Sclerosis 
(Thc4MS), which has around a dozen members in the county, mix the 
drug-laced chocolate at a secret location in North Cumbria.

The bars, dubbed "pot chocolate", are then packaged and posted to multiple 
sclerosis (MS) sufferers in the UK and abroad, who use it to ease their 
symptoms.

Mark Gibson, from Alston, is spokesman for the group, which is run on a 
not-for-profit basis.

Wheelchair

Mr Gibson, whose wife Lezley is an MS sufferer, hit the headlines two years 
ago when a Carlisle jury found her not guilty of possession of cannabis.

He says that although those involved risk being arrested, their work is too 
important to give up.

"The group doesn't have a choice," he said.

"It is a case of having somebody ill and asking 'please help me'. You can't 
refuse them, not when you know it works.

"How could you turn somebody away when they come to you in their wheelchair 
in the middle of the night begging for help? It is a necessity."

The 150g bars of chocolate contain at least two per cent cannabis.

They are available free to anyone who can supply a doctor's note confirming 
they suffer from MS.

Ingest

Wrappers contain the warnings: "150g Milk Medicinal Cannabis Chocolate, For 
Patient Use Only!" and "Keep Out of the Reach of Children".

Those who order the bars are advised to eat one square three times a day, 
for medicinal purposes.

Taken at this dose, the MS sufferer will not ingest enough cannabis to get 
"high."

Thc4MS currently supplies more than 160 sufferers, which is up from 50 last 
year and around 10 two years ago.

The chocolate is advertised by word of mouth, with around 600 bars posted 
from Cumbria in the past 12 months.

It has been exported as far afield as Italy and Denmark.

All the raw materials, including the drug, are donated.

Thc4MS says is has chosen to speak freely about its work after Internet 
vigilantes threatened to expose the group.

A spokesman for Cumbria police said: "If that is what these people are 
doing it is against the law, and we'll be monitoring the situation.
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MAP posted-by: Beth