MS SUFFERER CLEARED OF CANNABIS CHARGE

Lezley Gibson says she smokes five joints a day A multiple sclerosis
sufferer was cleared of possessing cannabis after telling a court that she
needed the drug to relieve the symptoms of the muscle-wasting disease.

Lezley Gibson had denied one charge of possessing eight grammes of the
class-B drug with a street value of around Pounds 40 on the grounds that
she needed it for medical reasons.

During the four-day trial the jury heard police raided the 36-year-old's
home in Alston, Cumbria, in August 1999, where they found cannabis.

The prosecution at Carlisle Crown Court argued that the mother-of-one could
not use the defence of necessity because she would not be at risk of death
or serious injury from her condition if she did not smoke cannabis.

Supporters cheer

Graham Knowles, prosecuting, told Mrs Gibson: "Your preference is to break
the law with no need to do so by buying cannabis from drug dealers because
you greatly value the relief that you sincerely believe you get from cannabis.

"It wasn't necessary at any time for you to use cannabis," he said.

Mrs Gibson told the court she started smoking cannabis 12 years ago - three
years after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

She had tried steroids, valium, hypnotherapy and acupuncture but none of
them helped relieve the symptoms, which include spasms, dizziness and loss
of feeling, as well as cannabis, she said.

Mrs Gibson added that she smoked up to five joints a day because it enabled
her to have a more normal life.

She said:" It's the best chance of feeling like everybody else.

"I would use paint stripper if I thought it would make me well."

Mrs Gibson wept and her supporters cheered as she was found not guilty
after an hour and a half of deliberations by the jury of seven women and
five men.

Outside court, with her husband Mark, Mrs Gibson vowed to continue smoking
cannabis and called for a change in the law.

She said: "I will continue to campaign for everybody else. There are
hundreds of people like me out there."

Mrs Gibson said she intended to throw a party to celebrate the verdict.

She said: "No one in my position should have to be dragged through the
courts like this but I am glad it is all over.

"I feel brilliant," she concluded.