Pubdate: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 Source: Times, The (UK) Copyright: 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd Contact: http://www.the-times.co.uk/ Cited: Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics: http://marijuana-as-medicine.org/Alliance/europe.html DRUG 'RELIEVES SPASMS' Clare Hodges describes herself as a "middle-aged, middle class woman", but she is forced to break the law on a daily basis in order to relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Mrs Hodges, a 42-year-old mother of two, has suffered from the disease for 17 years and has used cannabis to alleviate spasms and pain since reading of its effects in a US magazine eight years ago. She heads the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, which campaigns for people with medical conditions to be allowed to use the drug. The alliance estimates that more than 10,000 people in Britain use cannabis to relieve pain. Mrs Hodges, a former television producer who has had to give up work, grows cannabis plants at her Leeds home. She said: "Cannabis affects your whole body. It can alleviate things like spasticity [spasms] but also affects your mood and your ability to get on with life." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D