Pubdate: Wednesday December 3 1997 Source: Press & Journal, Aberdeen Contact: COMPASSIONATE RESULT IN CANNABIS COURT CASE Ms Sufferer Used Drug To Counter Excruciating Pain By David Hartley A Woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis struggled to court yesterday to face sentence for growing cannabis the only drug that relieves the severe pain she suffers. Elizabeth Ivol, 50, had to use two walking sticks to clamber up the steep flight of stairs leading to Kirkwall Sheriff Court, in Orkney. Hers was the first case of it's kind since the British Medical Association called on courts to exercise compassion and understanding when sick people including MS sufferers use cannabis to alleviate their symptoms. After warning Mrs. Ivol that she could face six months in jail, Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie admonished her on two charges growing 27 cannabis plants and possessing the illegal drug. Mrs. Ivol, of Craigflower cottage, Herston, South Ronaldsay, had pleaded guilty on an earlier occasion. Her defence agent, Graham Sutherland, said Mrs. Ivol appreciated the seriousness of the offences she had committed and had made an enormous physical effort to go to court to face sentence. "There was no criminal intent behind her cultivating cannabis plants they were not intended for anyone else," Mr. Sutherland told the court. "My client intended to use the drug privately and discreetly. This was an experiment she had never grown cannabis plants before. "Unfortunately for my client, she is not aware of any drugs available on prescription which provide the degree of relief which she obtains from her home grown cannabis." Mrs. Ivol's consultant neuropsychologist had confirmed that no legally available drug could offer the same relief for her symptoms as cannabis, he told the court. "My client was not using cannabis for pleasure," said Mr. Sutherland. "She was attempting to relieve the awful physical symptoms she suffers and to obtain a degree of selfrespect, something which most people take for granted." Fiscal Colin McClory had earlier told the court the offences came to light after police heard workers carrying out community service had found cannabis plants at a house in South Ronaldsay. "They had helped themselves to a number of leaves taken them back to Kirkwall, used them themselves and shared them out with others," he said. Tests had shown that the 27 plants would have produced 86.7g of dried cannabis with a black market value of 430ukp, he said. Sheriff Mackenzie told Mrs. Ivol, who sat looking very weary and solemn in the dock, that cultivating cannabis could result in a six month prison sentence, a 5.000ukp fine, or both. "In administering the law, the High Court has frequently said that offenders will be severely dealt with." he said. "I have little doubt that cannabis might have a beneficial pharmaceutical effect in certain circumstances. That is not to say that it is the only drug which can provide a beneficial effect. "However, that is possibly something which interested people should put to Members of Parliament." After the case, Mrs. Ivol lit up a totally legal cigarette outside Kirkwall Sheriff Court and said she was enormously relieved. "I felt like a criminal all the time I was in there," she said, as she sat on the steps of the court. "But I don't now I'm outside in the fresh air again." Mrs. Ivol said she had to cope with unimaginable pain before she discovered relief through smoking homegrown cannabis. "It felt like a strand of barbed wire being dragged though my spine up to the top of my head," she said. She was diagnosed as having MS seven years ago, but started using cannabis only four months ago. "Painkillers just weren't working anymore," she said. "I knew I was breaking the law, but it was a risk I had to take because there was nothing else left for me. "I'd seriously wondered about whether I could carry on living. Then, when I started smoking a joint every five days, I'd find all the pain had gone within about an hour. "I suddenly found I could feel my toes for the first time in three years. "It's also given me a bit of independence. I can look after myself and my dogs. Without the cannabis , they'd probably have to put me in a home." Mrs. Ivol makes soft toys for charities such as Age Concern and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and was presented with a certificate recently for her outstanding voluntary work. After leaving court yesterday, she went home to put the finishing touches to a 7ft dragon she is making for a Christmas pantomime in South Ronaldsay.