Pubdate: Sat, 16 Dec 2006
Source: Times, The (UK)
Copyright: 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/454
Author: Russell Jenkins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Lezley+Gibson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

CANNABIS CHOCOLATE MAKERS GUILTY

The campaign to legalise cannabis for therapeutic use suffered a 
setback yesterday when a couple who supplied chocolate bars laced 
with the drug to multiple sclerosis sufferers were found guilty of a 
criminal offence.

Lezley Gibson, 42, an MS sufferer, her husband Mark, also 42, and 
associate Marcus Davies, 36, from St Ives, Cambridgeshire, were found 
guilty of conspiring to supply cannabis at Carlisle Crown Court.

The couple, who run a gift shop in Alston, a village in the North 
Pennines, had argued that they were operating a not-for-profit 
service to ease the pain of MS sufferers. They said that they had 
done more to relieve sufferers' pain than the NHS.

Mr Gibson argued that he had a defence in law because the drug, 
recently downgraded by the Government, was used for medicinal purposes.

The couple, who ran the campaign group THC4MS (Therapeutic Help from 
Cannabis for Multiple Sclerosis), say that they posted about 36,000 
bars of "Canna-Biz" to more than 1,800 MS sufferers.

In each case they asked their clients for a note from a consultant, 
doctor or nurse confirming their diagnosis. They were then asked to 
make a donation, from UKP1.50 to UKP5, to cover the costs. But the 
150g (5oz) bars containing 3.5g of cannabis were sent whether the 
money arrived or not. Mrs Gibson told the court that her dream of 
running her own hairdressing salon ended at the age of 21 when she 
was confirmed as having MS. She was told that within five years she 
would be incontinent and confined to a wheelchair. Mrs Gibson said 
that the steroids she was prescribed -- the only conventional 
medicine she was ever given -- made her balloon in weight and grow a 
beard. She turned to cannabis and found it therapeutic.

She and her husband took over the manufacture of the cannabis 
chocolate bars from Biz Ivol, an MS sufferer living in the Orkneys. 
Ms Ivol died in late 2004.

The operation developed through word of mouth. Mrs Gibson said: 
"Every time there was anything in the papers, on TV or radio, we 
would get messages from MS sufferers. They were knocking on the door 
or sending letters addressed to 'The MS Lady' in Alston. It was overwhelming."

A succession of MS sufferers in wheelchairs testified to the efficacy 
of the drug. Michael Wood, who was forced to retire early from his 
job as a lawyer, said he found it of great benefit.

Mr Gibson said that each bar cost about UKP35 to make, but much of 
the cannabis was donated. He preferred to use organic chocolate such 
as Green & Black, which was then moulded in a UKP500 melting pot 
specially bought from Belgium.

He said they had not made any money from the project, although he 
agreed that he and his wife had used the proceeds to travel 
extensively to campaign for the drug's legalisation.The couple 
returned home yesterday knowing that they will have to return to 
court late next month to receive their punishment. They have been 
assured by the judge that they will not be going to jail.

Lawrence Wood, chief executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Resource 
Centre (MSRC) charity, said: "When pop stars receive minor fines for 
repeated possession, yet those affected by MS are forced to get their 
cannabis from street dealers in order to make their lives bearable, 
it is time for society to take a long hard look at itself."

[sidebar]

POTTED HISTORY

Biz Ivol, an MS sufferer who died aged 56 in 2004, lived in Orkney, 
where she hit upon combining chocolate with cannabis to provide pain 
relief for non-smokers. In 2003 she was prosecuted for possessing, 
distributing and cultivating cannabis, but the Crown abandoned the 
case because of her failing health

In 2004 Chris Baldwin, who suffered from leg spasms, was jailed for 
six months for running a Dutch-style coffee shop, the Quantum Leaf 
cafe in Worthing, Sussex

Colin Davies, 48, a prominent campaigner who once handed the Queen a 
cannabis plant, was jailed for three years in 2002 for drugs offences 
committed at his Dutch Experience coffee shop in Stockport. He smoked 
a joint during a police raid on the cafe's opening day
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake