JURY CLEARS 'MEDICINAL'CANNABIS GROWER

A CAMPAIGNER for the legalisation of cannabis to ease the pain of the
seriously ill was cleared yesterday of supplying the drug. Colin Davies,
42, of Brinnington, Stockport, vowed to continue growing, using and
supplying cannabis after he was acquitted by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

It was the second time in 13 months that Mr Davies, a father of two, had
mounted a successful defence. At the first trial he was cleared of
possessing the drug.

Yesterday's verdict, greeted by cheers from the public gallery, was hailed
by campaigners as a turning point in the fight to legalise the use of
cannabis as a painkiller. It was the first prosecution in a British court
for the supply of the drug for medical reasons.

Mr Davies, wearing a yellow badge with the words "No victim - no crime",
called for a moratorium on prosecutions and urged the Government to take
public soundings on a change in the law.

He said: "This verdict represents a victory for compassion over
bureaucracy. People should be allowed to use cannabis as a safe and
effective form of pain relief."

Mr Davies, a former joiner, broke his back in a 60ft fall from a bridge
five years ago. He walks with a limp and is in constant pain.

He says that conventional treatments prescribed by doctors prompted spasms
and sickness, so he turned to cannabis in desperation and began cultivating
the plants in his flat.

After he was acquitted on the first charge of possession and cultivation
last year he openly set up the Medical Marijuana Co-operative, which claims
to have 100 members. It offered to supply cannabis on a non-profit-making
basis to people with multiple sclerosis, cancer, paraplegia and other
serious illnesses.

Police raided his flat last November and seized 26 cannabis plants,
cultivation equipment and details of the cooperative. Mr Davies was
detained for six hours.

"The officers came round almost a year to the day that they last raided my
house," Mr Davies said. "I was in my sickbed and barely able to move.

"I have never denied that I have been smoking cannabis for my own use to
help with the pain I suffer, and to help to relieve the pain and suffering
of others in the co-operative."

Mr Davies had denied cultivating and supplying cannabis, possessing the
drug with intent to supply and possession of the drug.

The jury deliberated for three hours before returning the not guilty verdict.