Pubdate: Fri, 27 May 2005
Source: BBC News (UK Web)
Copyright: 2005 BBC
Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

CANNABIS PAIN RELIEF APPEAL FAILS

The Court of Appeal has rejected a bid to permit the use of cannabis for 
the relief of chronic pain.

Three judges ruled against the argument that unlawful conduct could be 
"excused or justified by the need to avoid a greater evil".

They also said necessity was no defence for using or supplying the drug.

The court dismissed appeals in six cases where people were given fines or 
suspended sentences after convictions for possessing or importing cannabis.

The court had been told that cannabis was more effective than conventional 
forms of pain relief and did not have the potentially serious and 
life-threatening side-effects of alternative treatments.

But the judges ruled that the defences of necessity or duress should be 
confined to cases where someone committed what would otherwise be an 
unlawful act to avoid "imminent danger of physical injury".

Benefits 'Outweighed'

Barry Quayle, 38, from Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, who had both legs 
amputated below the knee and suffered pain from damaged tissue and "phantom 
limb" sensation; Reay Wales, 53, of Ipswich, who has serious bone and 
pancreas conditions and Graham Kenny, 25, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, who 
has chronic back pain, all used cannabis for pain relief.

Anthony Taylor, 54, who ran a holistic clinic in King's Cross, north 
London, attended by around 700 people with HIV/Aids or multiple sclerosis 
and May Po Lee, 28, also from London, a former employee of Mr Taylor, were 
convicted of importing the drug.

All had been given either a fine, community service or a suspended 
community sentence

The judges also ruled that the defence of necessity should not have 
succeeded in the case of Jeffrey Ditchfield, of North Wales, who was 
acquitted of possessing the drug with intent to supply it to victims of 
serious and painful medical conditions.

Despite the decision, Mr Ditchfield cannot now be convicted of the offence.

Lord Justice Mance, sitting with Mr Justice Newman and Mr Justice Fulford, 
said the general prohibition on cannabis in the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act 
showed that any benefits perceived or suggested for individual patients 
were regarded as outweighed by the disbenefits of allowing its use.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman