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THC4MS 3 face jail for helping Multiple Sclerosis sufferers

Ninorc | 29.11.2006 12:10 | Health | Social Struggles | World

Three medicinal cannabis activists have waited nearly two years to face trial for conspiring to supply cannabis chocolate to people with multiple sclerosis. They have been told they have no defence and yet refuse to accept they are guilty of anything other than helping seriously ill people by providing them with effective medicine for which there is still no legal alternative.

The adage that a good deed never goes unpunished might have been coined for Lezley and Mark Gibson and Marcus Davies. These three are the people behind THC4MS, an organisation whose sole purpose is to provide Multiple Sclerosis (MS) sufferers with life-saving medicine in the form of chocolate bars containing 2% cannabis by weight. For this so-called 'crime', they are to stand trial at Carlisle Crown Court on the 4th December, 2006, accused of conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Lezley Gibson, who has MS, and Mark, her husband, were arrested in February 2005 when police visited their home in Alston, Cumbria and confiscated a quantity of cannabis and equipment for smelting chocolate. A full five months later, Marcus Davies, who ran the THC4MS web site and administered its PO Box, was arrested at his home near Huntingdon. In August, 2005, the three defendants were eventually charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis during 2004, until February 2005.

The THC4MS 3 estimate that, over the years since the launch of their web site in 2000, they sent more than 36,000 bars of their CannaBiz chocolate to over 1800 bona-fide MS sufferers. Yet they deny having conspired to break the law. THC4MS scrupulously insisted that their clients must prove their medical need for cannabis before they could be supplied with CannaBiz, by supplying a letter of recommendation from their doctors.

Over the years, THC4MS has received hundreds of direct referrals from medical professionals who have read about it in the press. The publication of an article by David Rowan in the Daily Telegraph Magazine on 22.02.03, for instance, prompted an avalanche of applications. Not one of the THC4MS 3 has any medical qualifications and yet they have been of more practical assistance to MS patients in the UK than the NHS.

In May 2005, the Court of Appeal ruled on half a dozen cannabis cases in which it had been argued that the accused were entitled to a defence of 'necessity' because the drug was needed for medicinal purposes. Cannabis was more effective than prescribed drugs and did not have their associated side-effects. The three-judge panel under Lord Justice Mance ruled that this claim was not proved and that medical necessity could no longer be a valid defence in cannabis trials.

Throughout the period specified in the charges against them, THC4MS operated in the conviction that they were fulfilling a vital medicinal need by supplying an effective medicine to seriously ill people, for which there was no legal alternative. Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine developed by GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company, remains unlicensed in Britain, although it can be prescribed in Canada. As such, for the past year, Sativex has been available in the UK as an unlicensed medicine and Lezley Gibson has been receiving a supply.

Its motto, 'from nature, out of necessity', THC4MS has always been clear about its mission to supply MS sufferers with cannabis chocolate. Without cannabis, people with MS suffer pain that's like having barbed wire dragged up and down their spine. Without cannabis, people with MS can't walk, can't feed themselves properly, and depend more and more upon carers. With cannabis, they regain some of the quality of life that the rest of us take for granted. Not only does cannabis alleviate the symptoms of MS, in Lezley Gibson's experience, it also appears to retard the development of the disease.

For nearly two years now, the people behind THC4MS have been slowly dragged through the courts for something that they felt morally justified and legally entitled to do - and which they did, quite openly, for five years - but for which they are now being told that they have no defence in Law. Next week at Carlisle Crown Court THC4MS will invite the jury to find them Not Guilty of breaking the Law in their conspiracy to fulfil MS sufferers' right to effective medicine.

Notes

• THC4MS is a British medicinal cannabis co-operative based in Cumbria which dispenses cannabis chocolate bars free of charge to Multiple Sclerosis sufferers upon receipt of a doctors' note confirming diagnosis of MS.

• THC4MS worked as a first point of contact for MS sufferers who wished to use cannabis as a medicine, but who had no access to it.

• CannaBiz chocolate is named in memory of Biz Ivol, a MS sufferer from Orkney who developed the recipe and who died in September 2004.

• The THC4MS website includes hi-res. logo/graphics at  http://www.thc4ms.org.uk/press.php

Ninorc
- e-mail: ninorc2000@yahoo.com
- Homepage: http://www.thc4ms.org.uk/


Comments

Hide the following 21 comments

terrible reporting

29.11.2006 19:46

I have MS, and i actually live near alston so I've heard of Lesley. I do support the use of cannabis in helping to relieve the symptoms of MS, however, i would like to point out a few inaccuracies in your reporting. Cannabis is not a life saving drug 1. Because MS doesn't kill you! and 2. It's used as a painkiller! This is symptom management drug, not a life saving drug. Cannabis is also now available on prescription in spray form. It's exactly this type of reporting that gets on me and fellow sufferers nips! Please report the serious issues we face, not the gratuitus headline grabbing ones! idiots!

Sarah


And another thing!

29.11.2006 20:10

We dont all end up being unable to walk and being fed by our carers whilst wrapped in barbed wire! We all suffer different symptoms (of which cannabis only helps a few) and of varying severities. Way to go at scaring the crap out of any newly diagnosed MSers who may have stumbled accross this article.
For any real info on MS go to  http://www.mssociety.org.uk/
The pain is actually Like an elephant sitting on your legs, so there!
Oh and hubby mark smokes weed, and he aint got MS so shove that up your self rightous A holes

Sarah


Don't scare people

29.11.2006 23:12

I'm with Sarah. You do your cause no good by scaremongering and publishing inaccuracies. Imagine someone who's just been diagnosed with MS reading this...they'll be expecting the barbed wire, hand feeding and wheelchair the next day! Everyone with MS has a different disease progression, and cannabis doesn't help everyone with MS.

Margo


Support is appreciated

30.11.2006 12:24

I am surprised that Sarah and Margo have chosen to take issue with the description of the symptoms that many THC4MS clients experience when they can't get cannabis, rather than focus on the main point of this article, which is that three people are to stand trial in Carlisle next week for supplying seriously ill people with effective medicine. The piece itself was written in collaboration with the defendants, from their perspective and in their own words, so it certainly isn't impartial.
I believe that the crime being perpetrated here is the squandering of public money on prosecuting people whose motives are altruistic. It's a shame that you two are not disposed to support the people behind THC4MS, who have directly assisted some two thousand MS sufferers, but hopefully the jury will be more understanding.

Russell
mail e-mail: ninorc2000@yahoo.com
- Homepage: http://www.thc4ms.org


it was the innacuracies that upset me, not the motives of the canna-choc 3

30.11.2006 21:24

I did begin my piece with the statement 'i support the use of cannabis in treating the SYMPTOMS of MS'. I would be very surprised if lezley who is an MSer herself would support innacurate facts about MS being published. I've had a look at her website and it all seems perfectly sensible to me.
I will state again, that cannabis is not a life saving drug, it is a painkiller. MS is not a terminal disease. And there are lots of people, me being one of them, who can walk and feed themselves without cannabis. I've tried cannabis for pain relief but it didnt really work. I've found red wine to be much better.
Do you have MS russell?

Sarah


Not opposed to medicinal cannabis - just to inaccurate reporting!

30.11.2006 21:56

I take issue with inaccuracies in any reporting. I support the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. I use it myself to relieve muscle spasms. Inaccurate nonsense like this though only provides fuel for those opposed to the medicinal use of cannabis - they argue that if campaigners can't even describe the symptoms and prognosis of the condition properly, how can they be right about the benefits of cannabis? A bit more accuracy would benefit everyone with MS.

Margo


The point being?

30.11.2006 23:13

We all know that pot is helpful for a lot of illnesses and its true that there is value to people with MS as far as relief of certain symptoms. As an MS sufferer I can tell you this, EVERY case of MS is different. Some people with MS do not suffer from pain, some never fully develop a strong disability, some go in remission and never get it back, etc. The point for you is to release these people and it is admirable that they try to help people like me, but you ruined it by talking about people living with MS, like we are all nearly dead or sitting in a chair and drooling unable to care for ourselves. I have had MS for nearly ten years or perhaps longer, since most people take a long time to get diagnosed. I am in better shape now that I was 10 years ago, we have new treatments and a lot of new promising research, there is a lot of hope in our community. I personally do not smoke pot because it gives me migraines, and by the way pot does not slow down the disease, even the best MS medications can't do that for certain. You need to do more research before you scaring people with your ignorance.

Amelie


Troilus and Cressida (2.1.29)

02.12.2006 22:16

I would like to express my displeasue as a person with MS at being misrepresented by a person who claims to want to represent them. MSers don't want pity nor sympathey, we want to be able to resume productive lives without media sources scaremongering for effect at our expense, it only aids people in "running away" when you inform them you have MS. It also aids people to live in denial about what they have and in effect possibly harming themselves by not seeking correct help/aid/medication. Your article was meant to bring support for the three on trial, it should also have been away for you to aid awareness of MS, all you have succeeded in doing in continuing the already too long prejudice of MS.

I do support the use of cannabis for MSers who feel a benefit from it. Not all MSers do benefit from using cannabis, some actually get side effects which can be worse than other medication! I do not feel it is in the public interest to prosecute these three as there are no victims involved and they were trying to help seriously ill people. In my opinion and many others it is no different than taking any other herbal remedy.

I feel it was/is your responsibility to protray the true and accurate facts about ANYTHING you are writting about, especially if it is to be published for the public to read. I feel you have betrayed your art and fellow artist, you have also betrayed those who you wanted to represent. I now view you as deceitful and unrealiable.

If you actually have a brain then please in future use it to research what you shall be writting about. Do not follow common opinion and think because one person is like "this" then everyone else will be the same, nothing could be further from the truth.

Sammy
mail e-mail: bubbla_1985@hotmail.com


They DID break the law

03.12.2006 13:39

My second reaction was "Why suddenly are they being prosecuted for it?" then I looked at the bigger picture:

In life many things happen which are permitted to happen dispite their legality. Most very often what happens is a Judas goat is required. The UK can forget about any blood on its hands insofar as the Middle East is concerned. The UK can forget how deplorable the state of the NHS has fallen. No, we can take deep pride in the rule of law.

The Alston 3 Has chosen to become martyrs. That is up to them. They knew their actions carried potential dire consequencies. Sarah did bring up a very salient point MS does NOT kill you. It would be different if they were caught smuggling condoms into some African nation. The fact that they were so completely above board does lend creedence towards the lack of the usual motivations.

The Alston 3 have the opportunity to pay the price for their decisions. They broke the law. It is immaterial whether or not the law itself is "right".

Don't get me wrong I feel for them, but at the end of the day they choose to break the law, they knew what the consequencies were and now they will have to deal with it. I feel that this law is wrong, but as I said before that is immaterial. I am not saying these things to offend, I am saying them because they are the truth which is being over looked, by playing the sympathy card. If the law and order works they should be found guilty. They provided a great survice to many people, but that once again is immaterial. Perhaps, and I hope, one day the law shall change.

Sammy


MS different for every sufferer

03.12.2006 18:30

Sarah I find your comments inflammatory at least.

Cannabis helps many people with spasticity, involunatary jerks, neural pain, physical pain, which we all know is personal to all who suffer. I personally do not have MS but a similar extensive CNS problem,

Cannabis not only saved my life, as I had become very poorly to the point of death, through allopathic regimes. Cannabis and prepared cannabis preparations other than chocolate, helped immensley, I have NHS documented proof on this, Cannabis can save lives, as it did mine, I am lucky I recieve Sativex on prescription now, and still take some natural organic preparations I have learnt to make.

So One armchair expert does not change the fact, for many Cannabis chocolate, was a life saver.

Cannabis medicating chronically sick people, are self medicating, with exceptional results , leading to a quality of life otherwise unexpected.

Maryjane UK420


Maryjane
mail e-mail: mjma1@btinternet.com


It's up to the Jury

03.12.2006 18:37

Whether or not cannabis helps individuals who suffer from MS in any way, the question ought to be: did these THC4MS people do harm?

It seems to me that the cannabis law, which prosecutes anyone in possession whether or not they use it medically or for relaxation or fun, and in the majority of cases the law does more harm than good, punishes people it ought to protect.

The judges in trials - and this one will probably be no exception - will tell the Jury that they must reach a verdict based upon the evidence they hear and nothing else. NOT TRUE!

I have it on authorty from the Queen's Councillors that a Juror can also judge the "application of the law".

An obvious case is where a person who confiscates a drug from a child with the express purpose of handing it in, is then caught in possession and prosecuted. The prosecution, even though deemed in the public interests by the police and CPS, could be seen as a mis-application of the law, and the Jury can return not guilty without giving any explanation; the judge can do nothing. And it would not have to depend upon whether the threat of death existed.

The judge ought to tell the jury that.

In my opinion, this THC4MS trial is not about whether or not they broke the law - for they clearly admit that - but whether they deserve to be arrested and taken to court at all.

People like the Gibsons are not even part of the problem and for many people they have clearly been part of a solution to a problem to some extent.

I just hope the jurors see that these people do not deserve to be punished and that they are going to find them not guilty.

I certainly do not think they should be judged on what one press release has said.

Alb
mail e-mail: alun@ccguide.org.uk


Well intentioned...

04.12.2006 11:27

What seems to have upset some people is this section of the paragraph of the press release:

>>
Without cannabis, people with MS suffer pain that's like having barbed wire dragged up and down their spine. Without cannabis, people with MS can't walk, can't feed themselves properly, and depend more and more upon carers. With cannabis, they regain some of the quality of life that the rest of us take for granted.
>>

Now, I'm not an MS sufferer and know little about the illness - other than what a few people including Lesley Gibson have told me. But from the comments above, this paragraph is over egging the pudding. Had it said something like

>>
Some people with MS suffer pain that's like having barbed wire dragged up and down their spine, Some people with MS can't walk, can't feed themselves properly and depend more and more upon carers. With cannabis, a fair proportion of these people regain some of the quality of life that the rest of us take for granted
>>

Something like that would have made the point without upsetting the wider "MS community".

I think there's a lesson in this for cannabis law reform campaigners not to try to portray cannabis as this "wonderful plant that can save humanity". It does have uses and for some ill people it can be as near to a life saver as makes no difference, but if the case is presented in such black and white absolutist terms it's easy to shoot down.

The real issue for campaigners is the blanket prohibition - not how good cannabis is but how bad the law is.

THC4MS have managed to make a very real change in the law however. I suspect that Charles Clarke, the last Home Secretary, only allowed Sativex to be prescribed because of the THC4MS bust. He feared a wave of protest from ill people and so "bent the law" to allow cannabis on the NHS. It was a cynical move typical of this government. But as that was all THC4MS were trying to achieve, they can be pleased they've done what they set out to do. Of course, had Sativex been allowed before they got busted, they would have stopped their campaign because it wouldn’t have been needed.

But the real issue now is the prohibition of the recreational use of cannabis. If that issue can be addressed all the other uses of the plant become possible. What's needed in my view is a focussed campaign to fight prohibition, rather than trying to promote cannabis as the saviour of all mankind.

Meantime - best wishes to the three of them.

Derek

Derek
mail e-mail: derek@ukcia.org
- Homepage: http://www.ukcia.org


Good luck THC3! Also, to the articles critics...

07.12.2006 12:22

First off, best of luck at the trial! Really hope it goes well next week and the right verdict comes back. The work done by THC4MS is selfless and essential. Hopefully this will get overturned and you will be able to get on with it!!

As for the other people making negative comments about the report - um, hello? You didn't know MS killed people? Never heard of it progressing or that rate of progression being slowed by treatment of the symptoms?? Yeah, each case is different - what's your point? The report didn't categorically state that ALL cases were like that, it just stated that without cannabis people with MS would be experiencing those symptoms!! This is undeniable truth! It's not just pain relief - if you think that, you really don't understand the nature of your own condition!

As for the new treatments : a friend of mine is on one of them. Every week they give him an injection which leaves him totally screwed for days. Without cannabis, he wouldn't be able to do anything in that time. He can't get sativex, he's been trying for a long time.

Describing some of the less pleasant symptoms of MS in a progressed state helps demonstrate to the public reading the article the truth behind what MS can become like and how cannabis can help alleviate the worst of it.

No, MS sufferers do not want sympathy. What MANY do want, however, is a decent source of the only medicine they find actually helps them lead normal lives.

eri
- Homepage: http://www.uk420.co.uk


Jury can refuse to convict - there is a defence

08.12.2006 12:36

In such cases where the law is clearly unjust the jury can still act on their conscience and refuse to convict - hence the THC4MS three do have a defence by going above the judge and any legislature and appealing to the morality of the law.

Alastair
mail e-mail: alastairmcgowan@btopenworld.com


The Victims?

08.12.2006 13:07

The only people who the THC4MS three have harmed with their 'crime' are street drug dealers who provide low grade cannabis and - in many cases - use the funds from their dealing to fund other crimes or harder drug pushing. As far as I can see these good people are providing much needed relief to people in discomfort (and I know not all MS sufferers use cannabis but it's clear that some do) at no profit to themselves.

The criminal here is the law. A criminal for creating victims by wasting public money on this trial. A criminal for forcing business into the hands of drug dealers. A criminal for prosecuting people who have nothing but the best intentions in their minds and hearts.

Stop this nonsense now. Free the THC4MS three.


Jonjo
mail e-mail: jonjomcneill@googlemail.com
- Homepage: http://www.myspace.com/deltasounduk


THC4MS 3

08.12.2006 13:11

May I also wish the THC4MS 3 the fairest trial possible, may justice be done.
I have been aware of their good work for years, this work has also encouraged GW Pharmaceuticals to experiment on Cannabis for MS.
Lezley Gibson a suffer of MS, does find relief, from taking Cannabis, why should we as society, punish people for self medication, also aiding others to find pain relief, is commendable.

On breaking the laws may I quote Martin Luther King's
Letter from Birmingham Jail
making a reference to this act of disobedience.


""at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws.
One may won ask:
"How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?"
The answer lies in the fact that there fire two types of laws: just and unjust.
I would be the Brat to advocate obeying just laws.
One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws.
Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all" ""


Lets hope they get jury nullification, as this is an act of kindness, as many MS find relief from use. I've witnessed MS patients take cannabis, and swear by it properties so much, that they face prosecution, and dealers, who are in it for money.
What THC4MS did was to give them a protected environment when our government wouldn't give them the choice of taking one of the safest herbs known to mankind.

Please may real justice be done by real people.
Compassion being a variable, that needs to be more in our Laws.

Winston Matthews
Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

Winston Matthews
mail e-mail: chilwin@hotmail.co.uk
- Homepage: http://www.lca-uk.org/lcaforum/index.php


jury nullification

08.12.2006 13:55

May I also wish the THC4MS 3 the fairest trial going, may justice be done.
I have been aware of their good work for years, this work has also encouraged GW Pharacuticals to experiment on Cannabis for MS.
Lezley Gibson a suffer of MS, does find relief, from taking Cannabis, why should we as society, punish people for self medication, also aiding others to find pain relief, is commendable.
On breaking the laws may I quote Martin Luther King's
Letter from Birmingham Jail
making a reference to this act of disobedience.


""at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may won ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there fire two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the Brat to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all" ""


Lets hope they get jury nullification, as this is an act of kindness, as many MS find relief from use. I've witnessed MS patients take cannabis, and swear by it properties so much, that they face prosecution, and dealers, who are in it for money.
What THC4MS did was to give them a protected environment when our government wouldn't give them the choice of taking one of the safest herbs known to mankind.
Please may real justice be done by real people.

Winston Matthews
Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

Winston Matthews
mail e-mail: chilwin@hotmail.co.uk


My heartfelt thanks to THC4MS

08.12.2006 15:15

I apprecaite that people like Sarah feel that THC4MS are to blame for the reporting that derek has pointed out could have been worded better.

To sarah I would like to say this, I know many MS Sufferers, and many whom rely on help from the good work of thc4ms.

Although you may feel MS might no be so bad as desrcibed in this article i would urge you to put the name Biz Ivol into the Google search engine, it was through Biz i became a supporter of THC4MS, Biz went from able bodied to wheelchair bound in quick succession after being taken to court for using cannabis, she ended up spending only three hours a day out of her bed, she needed a lift for bed and bath and a cage to shower in, her freind Bill Reeves was paralised from the neck down, he spoke in great favour of cannabis chocolate after Biz's doctor asked her to administer cannabis to a non smoker, whatever your degree of illness, it is clear there is always someone worse off than yourself, Biz attempted suicide at the thought of being a criminal for her medicine, she died in 2004 refusing medication for a chest infection, as she was fed up of living in her restricted body, before her illness Biz hand stitched teddy bears, by the time she died she couldnt hold a phone in her hand. Bill has also now passed away, prehaps before his time. What I am trying to say is, sure your MS may be more managable, but do not think that your illness symptoms are exactly the same as other peoples, each MS suffer I know has similar symptons but also varying ones, some feel like they have lead in their legs, some that they feel they are made of cotton wool, some have the odd twinge, others tremmors, some feel pain liked barbed wire being pulled down their back, others pins and needles.


You can call me a scaremonger, I dont really care, I have seen and experianced some of the worst cases of MS, and I am positive that what THC4MS have done is not anything but care for people who may not find legal medicines of any benifit.

No one is forced to use THC4MS, it is there for MS patients who wanted cannabis without the need to trying to buy off the street of dealers, it should not be a crime for THC4MS to provide a mdeicine available in other countries, it should not be a crime for someone to give away cannabis for free to a ms sufferer with proof of their illness.

Ms sufferers can find that stress brings on more symptoms of their illness, i am aware that lezley has become more stressed since the case has been bought, i hope that she manages to cope with this, and i hope that the jury see the thc 3 for what they are.

good honest people with warm hearts and good intentions.

they are doing what medical companies could be doing but they are doing it for free.

this leads to the government struggling to make a medicine they want to charge big money for when it has been proven by thc4ms they can do it for free.

i feel that if thc4ms are freed from court they should infact be emplyed by the government and paid for their work, they have done it for free for long enough.

GOOD LUCK THC4MS YOU HAVE HELPED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE BE PAIN FREE.

THANKYYOU

Clara O'Donnell
mail e-mail: claraodonnell@lca-uk.org
- Homepage: http://www.lca-uk.org


Disgusted by this unjust cruelty to THC4MS

09.12.2006 12:37

The treatment of the 3 people that are on trial Lezley, Mark and Marcus has been cruel and unjust. All they have done is try to help people with a disabling illness, with medication that does not have the crippling side effects of conventional chemical medicines. In many cases these chemical medicines cause more health related problems than the illness they are supposed to help. What THC4MS have done is to give many people back their quality of life and for this they have been hounded by the media and the force of the law because of the help they give. This trial reminds me of the witch hunts of the middle ages. This country should have progressed by now but unfortunately for the people concerned it hasn't. Many people are suffering when they do not need to Cannabis should be LEGALISED NOW.

Tina Girling
mail e-mail: tyrasmith@ntlworld.com


It is morally right to cry FREEDOM!!!

12.12.2006 17:16

Magna Carta.... The punishment for the crime must not be greater than the crime itself. Where are the victims? In the dock!

colin preece
mail e-mail: colinpreece@lca-uk.org
- Homepage: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=98840874


Recognizing cannabis as a therapy

15.12.2006 09:18

Thought it won’t kill anybody enduring MS is true hell. And thought cannabis won’t save anybody’s life it could make a more dignified living for MS sufferers.
Sure MS sufferers could get those (legal) cannabis sprays on pharmacies with a prescription, but anybody suffering from an illness such as MS should be able to decide when and how they would like to use cannabis as a therapy for their illness.
Recognizing cannabis as a therapy only when you get it as a spray in pharmacies is hypocrite.
Wish all the best to Lezley and Mark.
Maria

Maria
mail e-mail: maria.alicandu@free.fr


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