PEOPLE IN PAIN APPEAL TO UK COURT OVER DAGGA RAPS

LONDON - An amputee and a man suffering bone and pancreas conditions
have asked Britain's Court of Appeal to allow them to fight drug
convictions for using cannabis to relieve their pain.

Lawyers acting for the men yesterday asked judges to rule that using
cannabis for medicinal purposes should not be a crime.

Barry Quayle, who has had both legs amputated below the knee, and Reay
Wales, who suffers pancreatitis, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, are
fighting convictions for possession of cannabis along with three other
appellants.

Their lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, told the court: "The primary concern
in these cases is: should it be a crime to resort to the reasonable
use of cannabis for the alleviation of serious and chronic pain? [ "We
would say the evidence shows that cannabis is the most effective form
of pain relief for their conditions and that, in any event, it avoids
the painful side-effects that are associated with more conventional
forms of pain relief."

The Netherlands last year became the first country to make cannabis
available as a prescription drug for cancer and HIV/Aids. Patients in
Britain, Canada, Australia and the US have been pushing for similar
measures. Britain relaxed its laws against cannabis in January this
year.