COURT FREES MS VICTIM FOR GROWING CANNABIS

By David Hartley

A MULTIPLE sclerosis sufferer escaped a jail sentence yesterday after she
struggled into court to face sentencing for growing cannabis the only
drug that relieves the severe pain she suffers.

The sheriff's decision, coming in the wake of calls from the British
Medical Association for "compassion and understanding" when sick people use
cannabis, was criticised by the Governmentbacked Scotland Against Drugs
last night.

Elizabeth Ivol, 50, had to use two walking sticks to climb the flight of
stairs leading to Kirkwall Sheriff Court in Orkney.

After warning Mrs Ivol that she could face six months in jail, Sheriff
Colin Scott Mackenzie admonished her on two charges growing 27 cannabis
plants and possessing the illegal drug.

David Macauley, of Scotland Against Drugs, said later: "The message that
cannabis is somehow good for you could follow from this ; and it wouldn't
be MS sufferers who used it, it would be other people who used it as an
excuse. You can't shortcircuit the law."

But Phil Galley, the former Conservative MP for Ayr, and a member of the
Scottish select committee looking at drugs abuse, said the case backed up
calls by the BMA for the legal prescription of the drug in some medical
cases.

"The sheriff was right to be lenient and I think we need to clear this up,
ideally fairly quickly, even by legislating for it. It just needs an
amendment to the prescribed list that doctors are allowed to use.

"My sympathy in this one is with the BMA. Providing the drug is prescribed
for medical reasons, I have no difficulty at all with that. But it should
only be prescribed by medics. In this particular case, irrespective of what
the BMA or anybody else may have said, the sheriff has demonstrated a
degree of wisdom."

Mrs Ivol, of Herston, South Ronaldsay, had admitted the offences on an
earlier occasion.

Her defence agent, Graham Sutherland, said she appreciated the seriousness
of the offences and had made an enormous physical effort to go to court to
face sentence. She suffered a range of symptoms and was severely disabled
by MS.

"There was no criminal intent behind her cultivating cannabis plants, they
were not intended for anyone else," Mr Sutherland told the court. "My
client intended to use the drug privately and discreetly. This was an
experiment. She had never grown cannabis plants before."

The solicitor went on: "Desperate circumstances often result in desperate
measures being taken.

"Unfortunately for my client, she is not aware of any drugs available on
prescription which provide the degree of relief which she obtains from her
homegrown cannabis."

Mrs Ivol's consultant neuropsychologist had confirmed that no
legallyavailable drug could offer the same relief for her symptoms as
cannabis, Mr Sutherland told the court.

He added: "My client was not using cannabis for pleasure. She was
attempting to relieve the awful physical symptoms she suffers and to
achieve a degree of self respect, something which most people take for
granted."

The procuratorfiscal, Colin McClory, had earlier told the court that the
offences had come to light after police had heard that workers carrying out
community service had found a large number of cannabis plants at a house in
South Ronaldsay.

"They had helped themselves to a number of leaves, taken them back to
Kirkwall, used them themselves and shared them out with others," he said.

Tests had shown that the 27 plants would have produced 86.7 grams of dried
cannabis with a black market value of £430, he added.

Sheriff Mackenzie told Mrs Ivol, who looked weary and solemn in the dock,
that cultivating cannabis could result in a sixmonth prison sentence, a
£5,000 fine, or both.

"In administering the law, the High Court has frequently said that
offenders will be severely dealt with," he said. Even when offenders
claimed a medical purpose, they were often given lengthy prison sentences.

"Those who defy the express will of parliament have only themselves to
blame if they end up behind bars," the sheriff said. "I have little doubt
but that cannabis might have a beneficial pharmaceutical effect in certain
circumstances.

"That is not to say that it is the only drug which can provide a beneficial
effect. However, that is possibly something which interested people should
put to members of parliament."

He added that he had "considerable sympathy for the circumstances in which
Mrs Ivol finds herself".

Outside the court, Mrs Ivol said she was enormously relieved to have been
admonished. "I felt like a criminal all the time I was in there," she said
as she sat on the steps of the court. "But I don't now I'm outside in the
fresh air again."

Mrs Ivol who calls herself Biz said she had to cope with unimaginable pain
before she discovered relief through smoking homegrown cannabis. "It felt
like a strand of barbed wire being dragged through my spine up to the top
of my head," she said.

She was diagnosed as having MS seven years ago, but only started using
cannabis four months ago. "Painkillers just weren't working any more," she
said. "I knew I was breaking the law, but it was a risk I had to take
because there was nothing else left for me.

"I'd seriously wondered about whether I could carry on living. Then, when I
started smoking a joint every five days, I'd find all the pain had gone
within about an hour. I suddenly found I could feel my toes for the first
time in three years.

"It's also given me a bit of independence. I can look after myself and my
dogs, but without the cannabis they'd probably have to put me in a home."