THE ONLY WAY PADDY GETS RELIEF IS WHEN HE LIGHTS UP A JOINT

THE only time Paddy Doyle's spasms stop is when he falls asleep.

Doctors have described his condition as the equivalent of being in a gym
eight hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

"It's constant involuntary movement which affects the whole body," he said.

Mr Doyle, from Inchicore in Dublin, suffers from an incurable disease
called Dystonia. "I take loads of pills for my condition, but they don't do
any good. The only time I've had relief is when I've smoked cannabis."

Mr Doyle, 49, writer of The God Squad, said he's only had access to
cannabis a couple of times in his life, but is adamant it works and wants
to be able to get it legally. "Why should I have to score in some dark
street? I'm not a criminal. I shouldn't be treated like one," he said. "To
me it's a matter of personal human rights. I am very angry and annoyed that
I cannot get it."

While many disabled people are privately in favour of allowing cannabis to
be used as a medicine, Mr Doyle is one of very few who has felt able to
speak openly about it. "The Government shows no compassion and scant regard
and trust for doctors and neurologists by preventing them from prescribing
cannabis," he said.

The writer first brought the issue into the public arena in 1997 when his
consultant wrote to the then Minister of Health Michael Noonan asking for
permission to prescribe cannabis to him. "I was basically told no way,
you're not getting that. It's illegal and there's no scientific truth that
its beneficial. End of story," he said.

Mr Doyle welcomed the announcement this week that the Government would
examine the issue.

"Anything that moves this forward is great, but let's not go hysterical at
the mention of cannabis. What we are talking about here is a herb that can
ease the symptoms of some dreadful disabilities."