cannabisnews.com: Ex-Drugs Squad Cop in Cannabis Call Ex-Drugs Squad Cop in Cannabis Call Posted by FoM on January 10, 2001 at 06:19:39 PT Research with MS sufferers is under way Source: BBC News A former police drugs squad officer who turned to cannabis in an attempt to alleviate the symptoms of MS has told how she was forced to resort to illegal dealers. Kate Bradley said the fact that she was unable to obtain cannabis legally from a doctor meant that she was being forced to feel like a criminal. The 56-year-old came forward after Labour MP Peter Bradley highlighted her plight in the House of Commons. Mr Bradley, who is not related to his constituent, urged the government to recognise the medicinal qualities of cannabis for people who suffer from MS. He said Mrs Bradley had been an undercover drug squad officer in the West Midlands Police. "It was her job to pursue and to lock up the people who peddled drugs. "Now, she is out on the streets seeking to secure the only relief that she can have for the pain that she suffers from." He called on Gisela Stuart, a junior health minister, to persuade the Home Office and the police that people in Mrs Bradley's predicament were "victims and not criminals". "They are victims of the torment of MS, they should not be made to be victims of an injustice," he said. Mrs Bradley, from Telford, Shropshire, who now needs a wheelchair to help her get around, said cannabis was the only drug that alleviated her pain. She was forced to quit the police when she became ill with MS in the 1970s. "For years I suffered horrendous pain. It was like living in a hornet's nest, with pain in my arms, legs, tongue, everywhere. "The doctors put me on morphine but that didn't work. Then someone mentioned cannabis and in desperation I tried it." She said she bought the drug from an illegal dealer and smoked it. "Within an hour, after all those years, I felt the relief I was crying out for." Mrs Bradley, who is married with a daughter, said she prayed the government would change the law to "recognise cannabis for its medicinal qualities". Report Due in 2003: Responding to Mr Bradley in the Commons, Mrs Stuart said that government research involving 660 sufferers of MS was underway. A report was due in 2003 and the government would make a decision on that clinical evidence. Mrs Stuart said: "I sympathise with any patient who is suffering and feels that an effective medicine is not available. "However, as in any chronic illness it is very important to evaluate the benefits and risks of treatment. The possession of cannabis is against the law for good scientific reasons in terms of acute and chronic health effects." 'Stupid and Cruel' But Labour MP Paul Flynn branded the government's policy on the drug as "stupid and cruel". He said: "Cannabis has been trialled and tested for 5,000 years in every continent by millions of people and not had any serious side effects in all that period." Mr Flynn, who has long campaigned on the issue, said 100 MPs and a majority of the British Medical Association were among those who thought that "natural cannabis should be used now medicinally". "This policy is stupid and cruel," he said. Outside the Commons, Mr Bradley said later: "People like her (Mrs Bradley) are already suffering from MS. "We have got to take care not to make them victims of an injustice as well." Note: They are victims of the torment of MS, they should not be made to be victims of an injustice. Peter Bradley Source: BBC News (UK Web)Author: Omer Songwe in Bamenda, North-West Cameroon Published: Monday, January 9, 2001Copyright: 2001 BBCWebsite: http://news.bbc.co.uk/Feedback: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/Forum: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/forum/Related Article:Multiple Sclerosis Study Aided by Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4933.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by mr toonces on January 11, 2001 at 09:39:30 PT: karmic payback While my heart goes out to Ms. Bradley, perhaps her present inability to find relief is nothing but a karmic pay-back for all the suffering she inflicted on others over the years.If only all narcs got the same "karmic education", they might learn.Ashamed to admit my lack of compasssion for Ms. Bradley because I have known so many who suffered needlessly without having inflicted suffering on others, I remain,Dr. Toonces [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by MS Patient on January 10, 2001 at 14:58:25 PT: Compassion and forgiveness A woman like this lends Medical Marijuana more credibility. It is a true neccessity for those of us tormented by M.S. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on January 10, 2001 at 10:22:48 PT Feels like >>Kate Bradley said the fact that she was unable to obtain cannabis legally from a doctor meant that she was being forced to feel like a criminal. Feels like? Lady, you are a criminal - under the same laws you used to bust people for. And while I believe in compassion and all, part of me wants the book thrown at this woman. It'd only be fair, after all. How To Grow Medical Marijuana [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on January 10, 2001 at 09:43:45 PT: Irony, indeed. I can't help but shake my head. What comes around goes around...and in the strangest of ways.You have to ask: how many harmless cannabis users lives did Constable Bradley have a direct hand in ruining? How many of *those* were medicinal users - as she now is? How many pleaded medical necessity - and were spurned by her with a variation of the theme illustrated by the very same steel-trap logic evinced by Mrs. Stuart and her cronies? How many times did she smile as she chalked up one more easy 'collar', grinned as she and station house friends humiliated one more otherwise law-abiding citizen, signed off on one more report, one more notch on her rise up the narcocracy ladder. One more cannabis user closer to retirement (check mark, check mark, check mark).And now she's in the same bucket as the rest of us. Her own body has turned traitor, her own pitiless, driving need for relief forcing her to do what she has punished so many others for having done. And now she pleads for mercy from the very government that paid her to be its' agent in its' merciless pogrom? To lock others up for doing what she does now?I've gone beyond the pale of forgiveness, anymore. Narks know the game is rigged, the war is lost, but so long as they get their paychecks, they will not dare speak up. Oblivious to the truth, unconsciously, they invoke the very same Nuremburg Defense that didn't save many Nazi's from a date with the hangman.But, if human intervention fails, if basic humanity isn't enough to sway the pols and their vessels of power, you can always count on the Universe to inevitably balance the books. Yep, what comes around has gone around. And with the incidence of cancer rising in the population (it used to be 1 out of 4, then 1 out of 3, and now?) more and more people will be driven to seek the relief from pain that cannabis is uniquely able to provide.And a few of those will be narks, like Ms. Bradley. Ironic. Truly ironic. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by aocp on January 10, 2001 at 07:40:16 PT: Irony >He said Mrs Bradley had been an undercover drug squad officer in the West Midlands Police. A great example of just how ironic life can be.>"It was her job to pursue and to lock up the people who peddled drugs. Oops.>"Now, she is out on the streets seeking to secure the only relief that she can have for the pain that she suffers from." And in doing so, after all her years in service to the policy-makers, she gets this reward:>Mrs Stuart said: "I sympathise with any patient who is suffering and feels that an effective medicine is not available. Total BS. YOU, you contemptable and disgusting person feel no such thing. And i'll prove it with your very own words...>"However, as in any chronic illness it is very important to evaluate the benefits and risks of treatment. The possession of cannabis is against the law for good scientific reasons in terms of acute and chronic health effects." Let's check this out ... we've got a former NARC who had to quit her job b/c of her illness that she later sought MJ-relief from in DESPERATION b/c nothing else worked. We're talking about a former NARC here ... who the hell else would be less-inclined to use illicits? What kind of "risk of treatment" do we have here? "Good" scientific reasons, huh? Kow-towing to american demagoguery is hardly good or scientific. Quelle vache. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on January 10, 2001 at 06:55:42 PT: Irony Changes Hardened Opinions I am so sorry for people like Ms. Bradley. I cannot emphasize enough the phenomenal relief of symptoms that cannabis often provides to suffering MS patients. It can be miraculous. Just as in the UK, USA policy on this issue is "stupid and cruel." We have the best government that money (cheating, and cronyism) can buy. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: