The case for cannabis as pain relief and in cases on Multiple Sclerosis has been used in British courts to avoid custodial sentences for a few years now. One of the first to hit the headlines was Lezley Gibson, and
this 2005 link from the BBC gives information on what she is doing now.
I also remember hearing about a cannabis nasal spray which is legal in Canada, but don't want to be searching too many cannabis related items right now....
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In the meantime, groups who supply MS sufferers with cannabis, however well-meaning, are still at risk of prosecution.
In early 2005, THC4MS, the group supplying the chocolate cannabis, was raided by the Police.
Cannabis and chocolate-making equipment were seized. Two people were arrested and are currently on bail.
There are 83,000 people with MS in the UK - and research has shown that up to 2/3 may already be using cannabis to relieve their condition.
But in future, groups like THC4MS could be immune from prosecution depending on a ruling expected any day by the Court of Appeal.
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Sorry, just found this - more recent & therefor more relevant
From here:
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Sativex, a cannabis-derived medicine which can be sprayed under the tongue, has been available in Canada since 2001. In March 2003, GW Pharmaceuticals submitted a product licence application for Sativex to the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
But despite evidence in small-scale clinical trials that the cannabis derivative THC relieves pain, no licence has been forthcoming. A three-year trial to test whether cannabis derivatives slow the progress of MS as well as alleviating symptoms is just getting under way...
...But the Crown Prosecution Service has continued to prosecute both users and suppliers of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Some have been convicted. But others were found not guilty after successfully raising the defence of "necessity", which allows an illegal act to avert a greater harm - in their cases, severe pain.
Those acquitted included a man with spinal injuries who set up a medical marijuana cooperative, and a doctor who supplied her daughter, whose illness was not specified.
But the appeal court closed off the defence of necessity last year, ruling in six test cases that it did not apply to the use of cannabis to relieve chronic pain.
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