cannabisnews.com: New Hope To Make Cannabis Legal New Hope To Make Cannabis Legal Posted by FoM on July 29, 1999 at 10:37:27 PT Source: The News On-line UK Fareham pensioner Fay Henderson campaigning for the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use, said she had new hope the government could change the law. She is encouraged by a letter from health minister Tessa Jowell saying the government sympathised with her plight.Mrs Henderson, 73, admitted there was a long way to go after the minister said there was no firm evidence cannabis had a therapeutic effect.'Tessa Jowell has said she is not unsympathetic, which is good news.'Pubdate: July 29,1999Click For Picture: http://www.thenews.co.uk/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cnews/W3Vfile.cgi/MO=3/TF=news_news_pics?RI=576862z Transmitted at 03:01:51 29/07/99 Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by James Chisholm on March 17, 2000 at 06:53:11 PT: Legalise it!!!! JUst thought i'd lend my support to the concept of legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes. My girlfriend has Multiple Sclerosis and finds the use a geat source of relief. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 01, 1999 at 17:12:41 PT: Related Article - July 31, 1999 Man Who Supplied Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes Acquitted!Clare Dyer,Legal Correspondent, BMJ British Medical Journalhttp://www.bmj.com/BMJ 1999;319:278 ( 31 July )The UK government faced calls to legalise the medical use of cannabis last week after a man who set up a cooperative to supply the drug for pain relief was acquitted by a jury. A doctor who supplied cannabis to her daughter was cleared by a jury in 1993, but last week's case was the first to involve supply for medicinal purposes by someone without medical qualifications. Colin Davies, aged 42, who started growing cannabis after suffering severe spinal injuries in a fall, was found not guilty at Manchester Crown Court of cultivating, possessing, and supplying the drug. Mr Davies, an unemployed joiner, grew the plants in his council flat and set up the Medical Marijuana Co-operative to help people with serious and terminal illnesses control pain. Mr Davis, who admitted taking cannabis for three years to relieve his pain, had told the court that the side effects from high doses of conventional painkillers had turned him into a "zombie." He had supplied the drug to two people with multiple sclerosis. Both he and Dr Anne Biezanek, a part time GP and homoeopath who was cleared on charges of supplying her daughter (whose illness was not revealed) with cannabis, had pleaded the defence of "necessity." The BMA said in a 1997 report: "While research is under way the police, the courts and prosecuting authorities should be aware of the medicinal reasons for the unlawful use of cannabis by those suffering from certain medical conditions for whom other drugs have proved ineffective." A private member's bill proposed by the Labour MP Paul Flynn, a chemist, which would have allowed doctors to prescribe the drug for medicinal use, was blocked by the government last week. A recommendation from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee that medicinal use should be legalised was rejected last November by the home secretary, Jack Straw. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: