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."

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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