Pubdate: Fri, 29 Dec 2006
Source: Cumberland News, The (UK)
Contact:  2007 CN Group Ltd
Website: http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4393
Author: Chris Story
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Lezley+Gibson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

CANNABIS CHOCOLATE WOMAN'S MOTHER PLEADING FOR JUDGE TO SHOW LENIENCY

The mother of cannabis campaigner Lezley Gibson has pleaded with the
judge preparing to sentence her daughter to be lenient, saying: "She
was just trying to help people".

Liz Nicholls, 63, this week spoke of the stress of seeing her
seriously-ill daughter give evidence in court before being convicted
of conspiring to supply the class C drug.

She has called on the government to change the laws surrounding
cannabis and for pharmaceutical companies to perform more detailed
research into the drug's medical uses. Mrs Gibson, who suffers from
multiple sclerosis, and her husband Mark produced more than 20,000
Canna-Biz chocolate bars at their Alston home and sent them to others
with the condition - so long as they had medical proof.

The couple, both 42, and 38-year-old Marcus Davies, of
Cambridgeshire, will all be sentenced by Judge John Phillips at
Carlisle Crown Court on January 26. He said all sentencing options
remained open, except immediate custody, after a jury found them
guilty earlier this month.

Mrs Nicholls, who said her daughter was just using her own experience
with the drug and made the bars to help alleviate the suffering of
others, pleaded for Judge Phillips to be lenient, fearing she would
not be able to handle the pressure of a harsh sentence.

She said: "It made her feel useful again. She felt she was helping
other people.

"Mark and Lezley do not feel they were guilty because they were
trying to help. I feel the same, but in the eyes of the law they were.

"They did not set out to make money. Lezley turned up for court in a
suit from Age Concern. They have no money."

Mrs Nicholls, of Dalston Road, Carlisle, also revealed it was hard to
watch her daughter stand in the witness box and be cross-examined by
barristers.

"It was heart-wrenching. I felt so sorry for her," she said. "I
really felt she was doing her best to stay upright and not to cry.
They [the jury] were not seeing what we saw for the first four years
of her illness before she started using cannabis."

Her mother says she witnessed a dramatic improvement in her
daughter's condition once she started using the drug to ease the
symptoms of MS.

She believes the jury were forced into their guilty verdict because
the of the law's tight constraints and wants the government to take
action and change legislation to allow cannabis to be prescribed for
medical use. Mrs Nicholls also wants pharmaceutical companies to
start using the experience of her daughter and others like her to
conduct in-depth research into how the drug helps those with MS.

She added: "We have seen people with MS who have turned to Lezley in
a terrible state. Some have had to be carried up her stairs, but
they've walked back down. We have read some of the letters from
people who have said things like 'you are the light at the end of my tunnel'."

The wait for her daughter and son-in-law to be sentenced has cast a
shadow over the family's festive celebrations. January 26 is also Mrs
Nicholls' birthday.

She said: "I usually look forward to New Year's Eve, but after that
it is January and I'm not looking forward to it at all."

During the trial, Mr Gibson said he began making and supplying
cannabis chocolate about six years ago after a woman living in the
Orkneys became too ill to do it. His wife helped.

The service was funded by donations of cash and cannabis. The police
took action after one of the bars burst open in the Royal Mail
sorting office in Junction Street, Carlisle.

Mr and Mrs Gibson both stood as candidates for the Legalise Cannabis
Alliance at the 2005 general election.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman