DAVID RENDELL, 68, CHRONIC LYMPHATIC LEUKAEMIA, LANARKSHIRE

There's not really a great deal of pain relief the doctors can give me. I'm
on steroids and I suffer from terrible headaches. I take ordinary
painkillers for that. But I just feel listless and tired all the time and I
can't sleep. But when I take cannabis it helps me sleep.

The prescribed painkillers are too strong. I want the pain away but I still
want to keep my wits about me. Cannabis does that - it keeps me sharp.

Many a time my body has been really sore and I've been exhausted. But then,
I've had a wee puff and within 20 minutes, I can go out and work away. It's
not as if it clouds your faculties.

I think cannabis should be legalised for medicinal purposes - it really
does work for me. But before I tried it, I would have taken an awful lot of
convincing. So, there's nothing I can say to win over the people who have
never tried it.

If someone had told me before, I wouldn't have believed them.

The people who are against legalisation don't know what it can do. They are
just ignorant of the facts. the same as I used to be.

I've used cannabis halfa dozen times, which isn't a lot. And there have
been times I needed some but couldn't get any. I didn't want anyone shadowy
at the door. The law says it's illegal but I don't view it like that. It
helps me greatly.

I wanted to send away for cannabis through the Medical Marijuana
Co-operative (MMCO), but I needed a letter from my doctor. My GP refused to
sign the letter. He kept the forms and said he would make inquiries, but
I've heard nothing from him.

I spoke to the specialist who treats my leukaemia. He said he had no
problem with it, but couldn't sign the form as he wasn't my GP.

In the meantime, I've got to struggle on.